The Jazz Times Dilemma Examined

There is still no confirmation, and no denial, of reports that Jazz Times will go out of business as a print publication. General economic decline, the increasing loss of advertising life blood and the necessity to shrink staffs weaken all magazines and newspapers.

Nasty fiscal weather is even more threatening to publications that specialize in cultural affairs. In hard times, support for the arts is likely to top the list of cuts in advertiser, donor and personal budgets. In his blog's Sunday Wax Bits, Marc Myers takes a perceptive look at the Jazz Times predicament and at alternatives to paper-based jazz information.

I don't buy the argument that the slow demise of print is tied to the "dumbing down of America." Fans today aren't reading less about jazz. They're just gravitating toward more essential content. What is essential? Content that's timely, surprising and independent. Sadly, many jazz magazines in recent years have missed the mark on all three fronts with cost escalations, talent drains and advertiser synergy deals.

To read the whole thing, go to JazzWax

June 7, 2009 11:57 AM | | Comments (1)

Categories:

1 Comments

I think Marc's analysis is on the money. Blogs (like Marc's and this one), and discussion groups/boards like Organissimo are where I spend my time -- a lot of time -- and I'm usually well rewarded. Knowledge (Doug's is deep and broad but self-effacing), independence and genuine effort of the "I stand behind this -- I want to get it right" sort. Also, as someone who did a lot of interviews in my time as a print journalist and almost always loathed the tedious transcribing process, I can't believe how much time Marc must put in on his interviews and how deftly he nudges his subjects along.

Leave a comment

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Rifftides published on June 7, 2009 11:57 AM.

Bad Times At Jazz Times was the previous entry in this blog.

The News From JazzTimes: It's True is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

AJ Ads

Introducing
AJ Arts Blog Ads

Now you can reach the most discerning arts blog readers on the internet. Target individual blogs or topics in the ArtsJournal ad network.

Advertise Here

AJ Blogs

AJBlogCentral | rss

culture
About Last Night
Terry Teachout on the arts in New York City
Artful Manager
Andrew Taylor on the business of arts & culture
blog riley
rock culture approximately
critical difference
Laura Collins-Hughes on arts, culture and coverage
Dewey21C
Richard Kessler on arts education
diacritical
Douglas McLennan's blog
Dog Days
Dalouge Smith advocates for the Arts
Flyover
Art from the American Outback
Life's a Pitch
For immediate release: the arts are marketable
Mind the Gap
No genre is the new genre
Performance Monkey
David Jays on theatre and dance
Plain English
Paul Levy measures the Angles
Real Clear Arts
Judith H. Dobrzynski on Culture
Rockwell Matters
John Rockwell on the arts
Straight Up |
Jan Herman - arts, media & culture with 'tude

dance
Foot in Mouth
Apollinaire Scherr talks about dance
Seeing Things
Tobi Tobias on dance et al...

jazz
Jazz Beyond Jazz
Howard Mandel's freelance Urban Improvisation
ListenGood
Focus on New Orleans. Jazz and Other Sounds
Rifftides
Doug Ramsey on Jazz and other matters...

media
Out There
Jeff Weinstein's Cultural Mixology
Serious Popcorn
Martha Bayles on Film...

classical music
Creative Destruction
Fresh ideas on building arts communities
The Future of Classical Music?
Greg Sandow performs a book-in-progress
On the Record
Exploring Orchestras w/ Henry Fogel
Overflow
Harvey Sachs on music, and various digressions
PianoMorphosis
Bruce Brubaker on all things Piano
PostClassic
Kyle Gann on music after the fact
Sandow
Greg Sandow on the future of Classical Music
Slipped Disc
Norman Lebrecht on Shifting Sound Worlds

publishing
book/daddy
Jerome Weeks on Books
Quick Study
Scott McLemee on books, ideas & trash-culture ephemera

theatre
Drama Queen
Wendy Rosenfield: covering drama, onstage and off
lies like truth
Chloe Veltman on how culture will save the world

visual
Aesthetic Grounds
Public Art, Public Space
Another Bouncing Ball
Regina Hackett takes her Art To Go
Artopia
John Perreault's art diary
CultureGrrl
Lee Rosenbaum's Cultural Commentary
Modern Art Notes
Tyler Green's modern & contemporary art blog
Creative Commons License
This weblog is licensed under a Creative Commons License.