Last updated on 2023-08-25
As part of our renewed efforts to be more transparent with our community now that we are much larger, we have something we’d like to address. There are several questions in our guestbook about our past and essentially ‘how we got our start.’
We’re going to run through that for a moment so we can lay this one to rest. We did not start because of anything or anyone other than SHK. This organization along with its many side projects; other projects, variations, and editions that have come to be over the years are all the brainchild of SHK. The rest of us just work here (which we love) but we have to give credit where credit is due… this was their idea.
This piece of information was previously unknown to our readers. This organization began because it was a financial guarantee. When SHK was young they did not have many of the opportunities that others did having come from an abusive home. This organization with its many projects were/was created as an effort to secure its future if all else failed. Initially, they had planned to be a forensic criminologist, but after becoming old enough to understand what it meant to live in an abusive home, they took the extraordinary step of creating this organization almost entirely in secret. People always think this is the wildest thing but we went to school together and we can vouch for the fact that SHK is almost to a fault brilliant.
2. Despite common belief, we’re not wealthy people however we do live comfortable lives.
We are not financed by ‘dark money’ or some shady figure. This organization extends far beyond just newspapers and publishing and we have numerous revenue avenues as a result. Our newspaper columns are just one of many hats that we wear every day.
3. What happened to SHK?
Nothing. Following their car crash a few years ago, they thought it was best to live a more private life. They’re still around for the most part and sometimes you will see them pop up on the red carpet. They are attending an India Fashion Week presentation in September in support of Mercedes Benz Fashion Week. Outside of their occasional appearances, they largely have zero interest in public spaces and otherwise live largely off of the radar. As a reminder, their only truly active social media page is on X.com @HaleemKhane. They do not use Instagram or Snapchat.
4. When is the sports section launching?
September and Jamar will be leading the sports column.
5. A note about our ‘declaration’
A few years ago as we began to experience ‘success’, we issued a security declaration that all but barred our writers and personalities from appearing in or speaking to outlets that did not belong to. us. At the time, this was because most of us were minors and had no choice but to do so for our protection. We did so at the time because well we sort of experienced an overnight success kind of thing and ran into some pretty scary situations.
We’re older now well most of us are except the ‘new blood.’ Now that we’re older we’re lifting the declaration. However, we ask that people understand that this does not mean we will suddenly be popping up all over your feeds; at events, and so on. Because most of us are migrants; Muslim, LGBTQ+, Black, or somewhere in between we will be keeping a section of the declaration that does not require us to have a physical newspaper location. This is for our safety and this is a really sad decision that we’ve had to recently come to.
6. Discuss your WFH policies
We weren’t the ones that created them. Our WFH policies were created by a previous employee from a few years ago. They worked out quite well so well we’ve had them ever since. While we can’t disclose too much about internal policies we will say this: manning a busy ship with employees who work from home is not as hard as some of these executives make it out to be. It isn’t. These are mostly adults that people are dealing with If they want to goof around that is certainly a personal choice and risk being fired. Know your worth and stand on it especially if you believe you could thrive at home and still be beneficial.
7. When will your international desk return?
The international desk returns in the fall. And it will focus on the Middle East; Israel, and similar places.
8. Why don’t you guys cover politics?
We’re changing that. But we’re trying to figure out a way to do so thoughtfully we don’t want to be one of those platforms that turn out like almost any Fox News personality the moment somebody dare be different than they are. Politics are important for people to know about but somewhere along the way they became a battlefield and that’s not okay.
9. How do people contact SHK?
That is not someone you can freely contact unless you’ve been directed to do so. Editorials usually will direct people that way if there is a reason to do so. Usually, if you are around, you’ll find them on Twitter but they aren’t the most active on social media. When communicating with them regardless of medium, please remember they use they/them pronouns.
10. What happened to The Daily Chronicle?
The Chronicle was the one edition that was not actually the idea created by SHK. The Chronicle was created by a young woman who preferred to remain anonymous but has since left our company. Unfortunately, she chose not to sell us the license to use the name and the idea within our network.
11. How do we e-mail customer support?
The Contact Us page at the top of this homepage. Please note this is to email customer service this is not the editorial department. There is no publicly available e-mail for the editorial department. Customer service does not have the authority to grant publication. Depending on the time of day, customer service may be in almost any region of the world. Please remain respectful and understand that rude e-mails of any kind to our agents will not be tolerated. We do not care what you believe in or who you follow online keep it classy.
12. How do businesses open advertising accounts with your newspaper?
Great glad you asked we love those. Use the Contact Us page and mention advertising and your e-mail will be directed to an advertising account manager. Please note businesses and advertisers are bound by strict terms and conditions and violations will not be tolerated. Advertisers maintain sole responsibility for the content of their advertisements.
13. A message about our commitment to diversity.
Okay, this is the only thing we’re going to say about this. When applying a basic layer of common sense, most are aware that not everybody is racist and not everyone has benefitted directly from racist acts or similar now or in the past. However, over time there were and still are numerous inequities in the workplace present that make diversity an important part of a successful workplace.
We remain fully committed to maintaining our longstanding diversity policy that ensures people from all backgrounds but especially those from underrepresented backgrounds also receive opportunities. And this sort of goes without saying we are firm supporters of the LGBTQ+ community. We have seen some of the e-mails demanding we remove such content and columns from our papers.
As we comb through more questions we will issue a second edition of this note.
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