Dearest Reader,

Last week, the TMJ core team spent multiple hours figuring out the big picture stuff. When I say big picture, I mean the things we as journalists don’t really like to work on but we have to. 

And we’ve been putting it off for just way too long.

We paused filming for the week, came to work in our sweats and drank infinite amounts of coffee. And then we realized the document the marketing team wanted us to fill out could not be accomplished in a mere one day. It needed to be an every night thing until we all got it right. 

But amidst all that fog and long hours, we were starting to get some clarity. Clarity on who we were, our vision, our mission, our content, the reach, and some of the goals we wanted to achieve. While we had done all this when we started TMJ, bringing in experts that targeted everything specifically greatly helped. Just like in real life, a lot of us know what we want and what our purpose in life is, but we struggle with finding the right words or how exactly we need to get there. Until an expert walks in and gives us a clearer picture. 

And while last week was spent doing a lot of back end work (that no one gets to really see), I worked closely with our newest breaking news staff writer to curate multiple daily posts a day that bring important news to our readers. This was really interesting, to see the storyboard from start to finish, picking and choosing the topics we want to highlight, coming up with the context and connecting the dots. I realized even more so how TMJ News is a solution to the whitewashed mainstream narrative because of its top-down approach. 

We don't want to sit at the news table, we want to be the table. 

Speaking of tables, our cafe is almost ready that we’ve been building in collaboration with Culinary Teas. This really sweetens the deal (both literally and metaphorically) because soon we will sip on a wide selection of teas and an array of conversations to have at our new cafe area right outside the studio. We won’t show you pictures until the place is entirely ready. 

The cafe is exciting because we hope to film there, perhaps launch another informal podcast, and bring in consultants as well as host meetings there. It’s amazing what a livened up space can do and the opportunities it can bring. 

The upcoming week is looking very heavy on the content calendar, from at least 4 articles rolling out starting tonight, anchor reels and new videos on exploring interesting topics such as after school Satan clubs and an all new episode for Muslims of the Melting Pot with a surprise guest. I still can’t believe how Sara, its host, landed him for the interview! What’s more, we have an all new report coming out on dating apps and what that’s doing to our society and culture today. 

In brief, let me tell you not good things. 

I’ve grown very interested in exploring the different ways that people like to get information. Technically, we are at the beginning of year 2 and we were nervous that we are still trying and testing lengths, recording styles, multimedia dynamics, cover photos etc. And I know I shouldn’t say this, but Vice News and Buzzfeed shutting down makes me feel a bit better. Not in the “I’m happy for their loss,” kind of way, but that if they couldn’t figure it out after all this time, we have a pretty good chance of success especially for starting out. So that’s been swell. 

In lieu of that, we are going to test out voiceovers and see how those do. The idea is to streamline the process so that we are working smart, and not just hard. Because we work way too hard. And that’s not necessarily healthy. 

As always, we appreciate your readership and support. Be sure to read everything we create twice, as a nod to all our hard work, and email us back with any feedback, questions, tips or letters to the editor. I read everything, and I mean everything. 

Your Editor,

Zainabrights

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