I've been posting lately at the National Arts Journalism Program's new Articles blog. Today I enumerated the business reasons why newspapers are laying off staff, cutting content and scaling back their businesses. Does it really have to be this way? … [Read more...]
A New Blog At NAJP
In my other life (what other life?) I'm the acting director of the National Arts Journalism Program (NAJP). NAJP started out as a project of the Pew Charitable Trusts in an attempt to help improve the state of arts journalism. I was an NAJP fellow at Columbia University in 1996-97. The program offered fellowships, did some of the first research on arts journalism, and convened numerous conferences on cultural issues. Two years ago the program shut down at Columbia, and a year later a group of determined alumni decided to try to revive it. We … [Read more...]

Our culture is undergoing profound changes. Our expectations for what culture can (or should) do for us are changing. Relationships between those who make and distribute culture and those who consume it are changing. And our definitions of what artists are, how they work, and how we access them and their work are changing. So... 
Recent Comments
Mark Gerth on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
And before we get to far off into the weeds targeting "the party of can't and won't". It was in...Katrina S. Axelrod on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
Got 'em all done-even the candidates for office. KSAKatrina S. Axelrod on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
And here is my first letter: January 12, 2012 Dear Congressman Murphy, I hope all is well with you, congratulations to...Katrina S. Axelrod on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
Great idea- I'm going to contact my legislators and ask them what cultural institutions they have visited in the past...Margy Waller on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
Starting a New Conversation to Build Broad, Shared Support for the Arts - The Ripple Effects Report Doug is right! We...John Perreault on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
The arts make our lives better, a little less mean and nasty. The arts are pursued for human development ---...Suzanne Ishee on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
Great article, Doug, and further valid argument for changing the conversation. This is, I believe, exactly what Chairman Landesman...Steven Miller on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
Doug has written and easy piece - what's his suggestion to change the stupid argument from the right against the...william osborneq on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
Wrong box. I meant the link Mark Gerth gave.william osborneq on The Party of Can’t And Won’t (So Let’s Change The Conversation)
The link is about the financial troubles of the San Francisco Opera. A few comparisons help contextualize the situation....