Short end of Jazz Times' good news

I'm not seeing the supposed August issue either. Website is not up to date and editors, not that they ever did, are not answering questions about it all. F 'em if they can't cut it and lets move on.

HM: Patience, please -- I've heard from former contributors, some of whom have been paid what they're owed, and I expect the transition to the new publishers requires quite a bit of work from a small and burdened staff. But I'm keeping check on the situation.

At the risk of killing any chances to contribute to the "new" JazzTimes... OK, nice that someone is "saving" JazzTimes. But let's not forget that somebody is making money on this deal, or it wouldn't have happened... and my guess is that it wasn't exactly a philanthropic, altruistic move on anyone's part. The new residents of JazzTimes' Mt. Olympus seem to have forgotten -- or perhaps never knew -- that any publication is only as good as its content. When so much of the content is provided by freelance writers with a passion for the subject matter, I don't think that a vague promise to pay 50% of their fees for work already done (for an agreed-upon sum)is the way feed that passion. And without that passion, the magazine will dry up and blow away in the wind.

Freelancers worked hard in exchange for small checks already. They plan a good part of their lives around what little pay they expect, with good reason, to get for the work they do.

Were they asked if they would be willing to take, in effect, a 50% pay cut to save the magazine? Or was it a unilateral, backroom decision by the new backers? My instincts tend to the latter.

We all know that being freelance jazz journalists is no road to riches, but shortchanging existing contracts, and leaving freelancers with about enough pocket money to pay for a cab to the poorhouse is not the way to build a following or a stable of intelligent, creative, reliable contributors.

What does this say about the kind of talent (and for that matter, the kind of content) that JazzTimes will be looking for now? Cover-to-cover 100-word CD reviews? Never-ending columns from editors and publishers telling how hard it is for a jazz magazine to turn a profit, "but we're doing everything we can for our loyal fans, readers, and contributors -- and we think you'll be surprised and happy with the results."

Will the magazine's new masthead now read, "JazzBehindTheTimes"?

50%. On existing contracts, no less. Shame on them.

- Bill