What you can expect from this newsletter
Hi, my name’s Rachel. I’m a University of Maryland graduate with a degree in journalism and public policy. I’m currently pursuing a masters in digital audience strategy through Arizona State University. After college, I moved to D.C. to work as an audience engagement journalist. Now, I work as a freelance social media journalist, with work published in The Associated Press, The Washington Post, Business Insider, and more.
As a member of Gen Z, I’ve often found myself enjoying when people ask me to explain certain concepts, phrases, and pop culture moments. I thought to myself, “Hey, why not write about it, too?” Gen Z Translator is a culmination of my desire to inform and entertain. You’ll find it centers on a lot of my interests. That’s because it’s my newsletter!
Here’s what kind of content you can expect to get from your subscription:
Explainers
Trending topics broken down through a Gen Z lens.
Social Media
Social media advice, updates, and analysis.
Pop Culture
The latest fads and societal happenings.
Meme Mondays
Why viral memes are the way they are.
Reviews
Ratings of books, movies, music, and more.
*Opinions in this newsletter are solely the opinions of myself or my contributors.
My personal methodology:
Subject Matter
I learned the phrase, “Don’t say anything you wouldn’t want on the front page of a national newspaper” early in my life. (Of course, I’m not always perfect, but the thought is always top of mind). I keep in mind that younger demographics may stumble across my work and other industry professionals follow me, hence why I err away from more inappropriate topics and censor certain cusswords in quotations and screenshots. These cannot always be avoided and as I’m not keen on censorship overall, you will see discussion of mature topics throughout my work. I try to go about this in the most sensitive, harm-reductive way possible. For content I deem potentially triggering, I will include a generalized note at the beginning of the piece. I also mention whether or not certain content has spoilers at the beginning, so you can read free of worry!
Use of AI
I do not use AI to write my weekly material. (Those em dashes are all mine). If I do use artificial intelligence in some way, I will denote that, and there will always be a reason. Usually, it’s for research purposes and/or to demonstrate something about how AI responds to a prompt. For example, in this piece I compared ChatGPT’s approach to one of my newsletters to test whether it could imitate my style. Just like anything in life, AI is not black and white. I think it’s important to explore the possible implications, and sometimes the most effective way to do so is by engaging directly with it. AI is blocked from training off my material through Substack.
Writing Transparency
I come from a journalistic background, which means I generally use AP Style in my writing (and also have an overwhelming and at-times inconvenient need for transparency, hence me writing this methodology section). My deviations from AP Style include referencing people by their first name rather than their last name on second reference to remain more casual. I also like the Oxford comma, so I will be using it! I attribute my sources when I can. If I accidentally publish a factual error or dubious content, I will edit the live link and specify what was changed or removed. My relationships to my sources will be laid out. Anonymity will be granted according to my personal preference. Interviews may be edited for length and clarity. And most importantly, any content you read in this newsletter is solely my opinion and not the opinion of my employer.
Thanks for reading!
