DJ Mag: diversity & equality report Q2 2022

This quarterly update reports on the key D&I activity during Q2 2022, including our successes and areas for improvement. We committed to quarterly reports in our 2020 company pledge.

In addition to the detail in this report, we continue to use our media platforms, covering print, web, video and broadcast, to champion artists from a diverse range of backgrounds and identities.

In Q2 of 2022 DJ Mag & AZ Mag launched their second creative fund partnership. The fund, started by AZ Mag in 2020, was built to provide funding to Black & POC LGBTQ+ creatives. As part of this fund, DJ Mag will sponsor one creative for an electronic music focused project; providing funding, resources and industry connections.

You can read more about this here.

Applications have now closed and the recipient of this funding will be announced in Q3 of 2022.

AZ Mag is an online media platform, social space and publication that supports Black & POC LGBTQ+ communities via editorial and events. You can read more about the work they do here.

We will be announcing further community support activations and projects as they are confirmed in 2022.

If you are a community organisation interested in working with DJ Mag, please email [email protected].

Our Q1 2022 diversity & equality report was published across our digital channels in February 2022. We continue to meet on a regular basis to hold ourselves accountable to the pledges we made. 

Throughout 2022 we will continue to encourage our network of international DJ Mag licensees to follow our lead in adopting initiatives that promote diversity and inclusivity.

Our commitment to provide free print and digital advertising to causes that support Black and non-Black POC community projects currently sits to the value of over £150,000. This commitment to free advertising is an ongoing part of the business, including our digital campaigns. Please contact [email protected] for further details.

During Q1 we featured the DJ Octo Octa on the cover of DJ Mag North America. The feature included an offensive term in error. We issued a personal apology to Octo Octa and her team as well as making a wider apology across our social media channels and on our website. The term was corrected before publication for our digital feature. 

As part of the apology and in response to the error we committed to conducting an internal editorial review to ensure that incidents like this are not repeated. This took place on 12th July 2022 with all members of the editorial team present.

These are the conclusions of the review:

• Additional editorial evaluation: Content involving sensitive subject matter related to marginalised communities will receive additional evaluation to ensure it conforms to correct editorial standards. We will also give artists and individuals from marginalised communities the option to fact-check the copy they feature in. This will now be offered as standard as opposed to simply on request.
   
• Style guide: Our internal style guide has been reviewed and published in September with a revised section on inclusive language. We now have a clearer reference point for our writers and editors, and a document that can be referenced to ensure we are operating to best practice when writing about the wide array of communities and individuals we cover. The guide, which is a living document that is continually updated, will be reviewed monthly by the editorial team.
   
• Expanding writer base: In our 2020 pledge we identified a lack of diversity in our writer base. Despite improvements in that regard, we understand that we need to go further. Editorial budget is being made available to improve our continuing endeavour to commission writers with a lived understanding of the people and communities we cover.

Our second event of 2022 was our Best of North America Awards Show, which took place in New York on 16th June. You can find the full line-up for this event as well as this year’s nominees via the link here.

Moving into Q3 2022, we will still be working with our headline artists and club/promoter partners to ensure all our events are consistently supporting Black, Black LGBTQ+ & non-Black POC artists.