Off the Record
OFF THE RECORD
AN INTERACTIVE NARRATIVE ABOUT THE REALITY OF WORKING AS A JOURNALIST OF COLOR

This interactive story aims to provide a window into a week as a journalist of color.

Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner.

However, the story it depicts is real. Journalists of color face both structural and social barriers, every single day, in the course of their work.

The effects of added daily stress, aggression, and devaluation from their peers and audiences means an inability to advance professionally, skewed representation in stories, a high burnout rate, and profound emotional trauma.

This story presents only a few of the hundreds of small decisions that journalists of color have to make, every day, that may have profound impacts on their careers and sense of self.

The goal of this narrative may initially seem to be navigating professional minefields nimbly enough to secure a promotion, but the goal for every journalist of color is not a bigger paycheck or a better title, but equality.

That starts with empathy from their audiences and organizations, but perhaps above all, their white peers.

Note: While this game does deal with the subject of discrimination in the workplace, it does not include the use of racial slurs, overt sexual harassment, or physical violence.


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