Episode 25 - We’re Not Spokespeople with Rachelle Hampton

Diversity Hire

Hello and welcome to the 25th episode of Diversity Hire: Our season 1 finale!! Today we talked to the wonderful Rachelle Hampton, who is a staff writer at Slate. Our conversation covered why you should appreciate your fact-checker, the psychic toll of being a diversity hire, Charlamagne Tha God and white America’s desire for one Black voice, the experience of being a Black journalist in the last decade, and much more. Kevin and Arjun meanwhile didn’t talk about much besides the snow day that just hit NYC.

We’ll be back in 2021. Thanks for listening!

* Arjun and Kevin talk about feeling hygge (0:00)

* We talk to Rachelle Hampton about her current work setup (8:15)

* Rachelle leads us through her career timeline (12:00)

* Having to meet traffic goals as a journalist (15:30)

* Rachelle talks about the sneaking question in the back of our minds: What if I’m just a diversity hire? (17:50)

* Rachelle explains how she put together a group chat of Black journalists for Slate (re: “White People Don’t Respond to Our Pain; They Respond to Theirs,” Slate, 2020) (24:03)

* How did Rachelle feel with regards to having to report on the same, unchanging Black tragedy in America (30:33)

* The way in which Black journalists have to be spokespeople for their entire race (35:22)

* Charlamagne Tha God and the ways in which white America have used the Breakfast Club to reach the Black audience (re: “The Voice of Black America?,” Slate, 2020) (39:07)

* How Rachelle developed her story about college debt (re: “Debt Nation,” Slate, 2020)

* Everyone should be a simp for their fact-checkers (49:28)

* We decide the fate of The New Republic (54:44)

* The way in which white journalists see the Black struggle in the newsroom as a “young person” issue (55:42)

* We talk about our favorite guy (1:01:45)

* Arjun’s Feelings Don’t Care About Facts Corner (1:06:15)

* The Diversity Tribunal (1:16:45)

This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit diversityhire.substack.com