Announcement - Launching Free Radical, and Why I'm Going Independent

My name is Mira Lazine, and I’m a transgender freelance journalist specializing in the queer rights beat, with a particular interest in covering radical political movements and scientific breakthroughs.

I’ve been in the journalism industry consistently for over three years now. Throughout this time, I’ve freelanced for dozens of outlets and have written hundreds of articles covering a wide breadth of topics, most falling into my beat. Notable examples include working as a regular contributor for Erin in the Morning, LGBTQ Nation, INTO More, and Assigned Media, with pieces of mine often reposted onto sites like Truthout and The Advocate. I’ve also been featured in leftist magazines like Strange Matters Magazine, written gaming pieces in outlets like Kritiqal and Unwinnable, and even written for Discover Magazine and the Washington Post. My work has been cited broadly - I’ve been referenced in the Merriam Webster dictionary, in various university curriculum, and have even been cited in a lawsuit opposing President Donald Trump’s gender affirming care ban. 

Today, I’m proud to announce that I’m launching a newsletter covering radical movements and LGBTQ+ news, called Free Radical.

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This is a move I’ve been deliberating for a while. Those who’ve been following my work for a while will likely know me through places I’ve written for, and the many struggles I’ve been having with relying on inconsistent freelancing to make ends meet. While I’ve been published in plenty of outlets, none have been able to offer me enough consistent, guaranteed work that’d allow me to pay my bills and plan for the future. Every arrangement I’ve had has been hard to predict, and without a contract. For some, this makes sense due to the small scale of their operations - independent outlets are prime examples of this. Yet, for those with large companies behind them, every attempt at forming a contract was rejected, with the only budget allocated for me being dependent on my continuation of nebulous verbal agreements with unclear expectations. There have been many days where I’ve sat wondering what I should do for work, knowing that at any point I could be booted for any reason - something that has happened more than once. Any freelancer can attest to how little legal rights we have in this regard, and this is to say nothing about how I had to take on immense workloads to pay the bills, slowly burning myself out.

It became pretty obvious at the start of this year that something had to change. I was struggling to get even the most basic of articles out, I had no energy, and I wasn’t making enough to sustain me over time. I’ve spent these past few months going over my options, running the numbers, and asking colleagues, friends, and supporters what I should do. The feedback was pretty unanimous - everyone I asked said I should go independent, and that I have what it takes to do good work and make an actual difference. After years of doubting myself and what I could do, I’ve come around and realized that those who support me were right. This is something I not only can do, but that I want to do. It’s already been a humongous honor to be able to have a sizable following, to have had tangible impacts on the world through my work. I want to continue doing this, and to continue trying to do my small part in making the world better. This is why I’m launching Free Radical - I want to continue doing the work I’ve been doing, while working to build enough of a living for myself that I can afford to pay the bills.

The core of my beliefs with Free Radical are rooted in anarchism. I believe that journalism is not something that should be cleanly distinguished from activism. The idea that any one person, much less an industry that relies on donations from corporate executives, can be truly free from bias and still cover political issues is nonsensical. Journalism cannot truly be unbiased, which is why I’m upfront about my own views.

I’m an anarchist with a history of organizing in a variety of areas – union organizing, food and clothing distribution, housing networks, and facilitating mass gatherings are a few of the many hats I’ve worn. I’m anti-capitalist, and believe in liberation for all marginalized people. This means I am against forms of bigotry and systemic oppression such as colonialism, racism, queerphobia, ableism, misogyny, and classism. I believe in bodily autonomy as a fundamental principle, and thus believe that no external authority, no hierarchical body, should have a say over what people do with their own bodies. Consent is at the core of my beliefs, and I believe that the number one authority on someone’s identity and their own body is oneself.

Much of this is informed from my perspective as a disabled, plural, queer, neurodivergent trans lesbian, as well as conversations with many folk far smarter than I’ll ever be. I’ve seen first hand how this world can hurt those of us it chooses to demonize – I’ve been homeless multiple times in my life, I’ve been held at gunpoint, and I’ve lost almost all of my belongings on multiple occasions. I’ve seen horrors inflicted on so many others that I cannot begin to fathom. This world is hell, and I want to do my part to make it a little better to live in.

Capitalism is a beast that infests lives and minds. It tricks people into believing that the only way to survive is to hurt those at the bottom and scrounge your way to the top, justifying hatred of those beneath the wealthy’s boot, claiming that its necessary for society to thrive. It generates bigotry as a means to propagate itself, and in turn destroys the world for the short term benefit of a few. The only way out is a clean start that focuses on the collective liberation of everyone, working to dismantle systems like white supremacy and the cisheteropatriarchy. Liberation for one means liberation for all.

The core of this will inform my reporting with Free Radical. My goal with journalism is to give a voice to those who would otherwise be forgotten by mainstream institutions. I want to continue boosting the voices of marginalized activists, prioritizing their perspective above those with power. With Free Radical, I am to provide truthful and accurate coverage of the issues that affect the queer community. I do not believe that my values are in conflict with factual reporting. Rather, I believe they’re necessary to provide accurate coverage. 

I will not have arbitrary word count limits, rushed reporting, an article quota for its own sake, or reporting biased towards those in power. This means that articles will come out when they are ready, with no set schedule for them, and they will be in line with the above principles. I will aim for this to be as frequent as possible. I will also still be occasionally writing for other outlets, such as Erin in the Morning or LGBTQ Nation.

My written style guidelines will remain as consistent as possible with those outlined by the Associated Press, while still maintaining a commitment to the above principles. At this time, I will not be taking on any other writers or freelancers, as I do not have the adequate means to pay anyone while still keeping myself afloat. Any conflicts of interest or any assistance I may receive with an article will be properly credited. If any errors are made, they will be corrected as soon as possible, with proper notice as to what was corrected, with exceptions for minor typos (e.g. saying “cant” instead of “can’t” or typing “rwiter” instead of “writer”) if any do emerge. I aim to be as transparent as possible with how I report and where any money given will be going.

I also aim to listen to readers, and invite feedback from those following. If you have any questions, comments, concerns, or corrections, I invite you to send me an email at miralazine@gmail.com. I will always welcome criticism, and if I ever deviate from the above outlined principles and goals, I implore people to call me out for this.

If you would like to support me, I offer a paid subscription to the newsletter at $8/month or $80/year. This guarantees that I will be able to continue doing this work indefinitely. Alternatively, if you would prefer to send a one time donation, I have a Kofi as well. Small reward bonuses, such as a subscriber-only Discord server and early access to my articles are forthcoming as well. I will never hide my writing behind a paywall.

In addition to this article, I am going to be launching another piece later today giving an example of what original reporting you can expect from Free Radical. As a thank you for reading this publication at launch, I will be publishing two other stories in the following days. Thank you to each of you for supporting me, and I hope you enjoy reading.