JAMIE K. WILSON: DEI vs. Story: How Publishing Lost the Plot. Part 1 of 7: The Gatekeepers.
Once upon a time, an aspiring fiction writer had a fighting chance. If you wrote a good story, polished your manuscript, and braved the slush pile, you might just get picked up. The system wasn’t perfect, but it was meritocratic enough that talent sometimes slipped through the cracks and found its way into print.
That world is gone.
Today, agents and editors, the self-appointed gatekeepers of publishing, increasingly use submission guidelines not as a way to filter for quality, but as ideological purity tests. Want to query an agent? You’d better make sure your story features “marginalized voices,” that your characters are “diverse,” and that your personal identity matches the preferred checklist. Otherwise, don’t bother. Some agencies explicitly state they will not consider manuscripts by authors from “overrepresented groups.” Some agents state baldly that they will not be able to represent white males. Others signal subtly or overtly that unless your work advances the current ideological line — the one centered on race, gender, or sexuality — they are not interested.
This isn’t just rumor.
And here’s Part 2
Plant that mimics odour of half-eaten ants to attract pollinators discovered The Guardian
The IPIE’s new report, Artificial Intelligence and Peacebuilding: Opportunities and Challenges, is based on a review of over 600 peer-reviewed studies. This report provides the most comprehensive overview to date of how AI is affecting peacebuilding, humanitarian action, and governance. Key takeaways include:
- AI can support early warning systems to detect conflict risks.
- AI tools enable digital dialogue and broader participation in peace processes.
- Crisis mapping and humanitarian response can be improved with AI.
- AI may also help reduce polarization and harmful content online.
