Welcome to CATCHWEIGHT
a non-traditional journalist’s newsletter on combat sports.
CATCHWEIGHT focuses on the politics and cultures behind combat sports and martial arts.
Think less event recaps and content like my reporting on weight cuts amongst amateur athletes or Black LGBTQ+ peoples' use of martial arts beyond self-defense. In addition, CATCHWEIGHT may expand into health / fitness more generally.
Who are you? Why are you qualified to write CATCHWEIGHT? 🧐
My name is Vanessa Taylor. I'm a reporter whose focuses include politics, technology / surveillance, and social movements. In 2020, I created NAZAR, an ongoing anti-surveillance newsletter that won the 2022 American Journalism Online Awards for Best Solo Newsletter.
My identity as a Black Muslim woman — and Afrofuturist — informs all of my work. And of course, I do plenty outside of journalism. I've published short stories, guest lectured, delivered keynotes, and more. But that's as much of my bio as I care to write up.
I'm not interested in waving around credentials. The benefit of doing your own thing is I don't need to fight to prove that I get to be in this space. All that's left to know is that I workout (too much). I dabble in combat sports. And I’m a good ass reporter.
Do I have to pay to read CATCHWEIGHT?
If you know me then you know that I despise paywalls in journalism. So, no. Everything free to access.
However, CATCHWEIGHT has paid subscription options if you want to support my work. I'm also hoping to expand CATCHWEIGHT into including guest articles as I did with NAZAR. In which case, paid subscriptions allow me to pay other writers, too.
CONTACT
If you need to contact me for tips, commissions, etc, do so by email at inquiries.taylorv@gmail.com.
