ZeroIndent is a media crit publication about the verb, not the noun. Our focus is on delivering good-faith criticism that respects both the reader and creator. We tell it how it is, and try to get to the bottom of why certain things work, and what makes certain media more affecting than others.
The goal is to hit reset on the critical lens, to say we deserve more than 'four out of five stars' and to think about what we consume again. Process information and art, not just endlessly take it in.
If we consume non-fiction to understand the world, and fiction to understand ourselves, ZeroIndent is the centre of that venn diagram.
It's hard to quantify what makes a criticism or observation good faith or bad faith. Modern media discussion wants everything to be good or bad, that somehow a universal dichotomous key can be laid over anything and a score out of ten must be created. And that there is somehow an objective way to view media. That one critique is right or wrong.
We will write stories that you disagree with, stories that toe a line that no one was asking to be toed, probably cover the same thing (Dark Souls) a thousand times.
Authorial intent, close readings, personal essays. Whatever the format, criticism must justify itself by having something of value to add to the conversation beyond 'is thing good, is thing bad' and that's what we do by focusing on the under observed, the under discussed, and the side-lined. Dedicated, hereafter, to every artist who worked themselves dry to create something that remains undiscussed.
The Team
David McNeill: Editor-in-chief
Patrick Lovern: Staff Writer, Host of A Method To The Madness Podcast