One reason why many aren't too exercised by the "cancel culture" debate is that to be excluded, you have to have been included in the first place. Most western publications are like fortresses with moats around them, the drawbridge descending only rarely to let in a kinsman.

It's hard for me to feel the pain of editors losing gigs over publishing shit when they've guarded their pages like impenetrable citadels, dropping the portcullis at the sight of anyone who, regardless of the quality of their work, has failed to secure the necessary introductions

I don't even know what it's like for a novice writer. I am published author with a PhD. I actually teach journalism at postgraduate level & contribute writings to literary publications. Even at this stage, I never get a reply to a pitch unless the editor already knows me.

This bothers me, because I am training students as journalists and inculcating the virtues of rigour and excellence, but I'm sending them out into a world where none of that counts for anything. It seems western media operates by what we in the east call "wasta" or "sifarish".