We're consumed by the idea of mass culture. Since television (and before it, radio) brought the immediacy of produced culture into our living rooms, we've treated the power of a massive aggregated audience with awe. That something is popular enough to attain common currency means it has power. Mass culture pervades everything. Writers place a character or location by dropping pop culture … [Read more...]

I've decided to make this blog active and use it to write about some of the issues I care about. I've been using it as a kind of administrative tool for things which don't easily fit on other parts of ArtsJournal, but there are ideas I'd like to explore through my writing, and diacritical seems like the place to do it. So I'm going to try posting more or less once a day and see if I can get into … [Read more...]

I'm very pleased to introduce our latest ArtsJourna blog. It's called Flyover, an ironic reference to the geographic location from whence the blog hails. Most of the chatter about the arts in America comes from the big cities, since that's where most of the art is made and shown. But there are many who prefer living in small town America, and not only is there some great art made there, but also … [Read more...]

Newspapers have long touted how responsive they are to readers. They want to hear from readers. They care what readers think. They try to give readers what they want. How then to interpret these debates over what to do with reader comments on news stories? News organizations realize that they have to become more interactive because their readers expect it. The internet is founded on principles of … [Read more...]

A few weeks ago I went to a moviecast of the Metropolitan Opera's "First Emperor" at the local movie theatre here in Seattle. With performing arts organizations everywhere trying to find new ways of appealing to audiences more familiar with video screens than stages, it struck me that the Met has invented a new medium for bringing its work to the masses. It might be the biggest innovation in opera … [Read more...]

I'm happy to introduce a new ArtsJournal blog. It's called CultureGulf: Rebuilding Gulf Culture after Katrina, and it's written by Cynthia Joyce, a resident of New Orleans. I've been looking to get a blog going on AJ about the Gulf ever since hurricane Katrina hit a year-and-a-half ago. It's a region rich with culture, and yet the storm wiped out much of the infrastructure that supported that … [Read more...]

John: I wasn't at all suggesting there wasn't a place for the classics (when I was young I never appreciated all those disparaging remarks about "old chestnuts" as people used to call them. To me hearing them the first time, there was nothing old or tree-fruity about them). And I remember clearing the moment I decided I wanted to become a pianist - it was after a radio broadcast of Grieg's Piano … [Read more...]

Doug: I retain a certain affection for dumbed-down classics, since (even with childhood piano lessons) I was led into my love for classical music as a young teenager by Arthur Fiedler. Still, I agree with your notion that high-arts organizations should concentrate on serious arts for those who love them. But that does not mean sticking doggedly to the classics, even when well performed. Aesthetic … [Read more...]

John: So much agreement, and so much for the mean nasty blogosphere. For my part, I'd like to leave off with a rant about audience. I think one of the things that is killing American arts journalism is our (arts journalists) fogginess about who we think our audience is. Why is it considered more important to bring into the metaphorical tent non-readers who have previously expressed little or no … [Read more...]

Doug: I guess we are indeed winding down, since once again I agree with you almost completely about the problem with newspaper cultural covrerage. But why not -- you agreed almost completely with my last posting on that same subject. And of course the Times is part of the larger problem, too, tho insulated by its attention to culture, based in part on business calculation and in part on Sulzberger … [Read more...]

John: We're getting close to the end of our conversation, but there are still things I wanted to ask you. One, which you bring up in your last post is about how cultural coverage is pitched. I get that in a mass-culture world the way to get audiences is to try to appeal to a general reader. Unfortunately this has come to mean dumbing down rather than being smart and accessible. But I think that … [Read more...]

Doug: I agree with most everything you say in your last posting (to the annoyance of those, like editors, who value a good dust-up over reasoned dialogue). I do think editors at daily newspapers today prize lively writing and versatile newspaperly skills over expertise in a field of art; they are probably even suspicious of expertise, at least when flaunted. This has a lot to do with the perilous … [Read more...]

John: Two huge topics to jump into, both probably worth spending a whole week on by themselves. I'll wait on answering the first till later, since it's such a huge topic. But the second, about specialist critics vs. generalists is easier to take a bite out of. I don't think being a musician makes one a better music critic or being an architect makes you a better critic of buildings. It helps … [Read more...]

Doug: I think we're talking about different things with the word "rules." I meant that for each individual, critic or otherwise, there should be no rigid, exclusionary standards that determine our positions about most anything. With conflicts of interest and objectivity, I meant by no rules that to take an extreme position may be fun to write and fun to read, but does not correspond to the way … [Read more...]

John: All well and good to say no rules. But we both know that doesn't hold. Indeed, with each plagiarism or conflict case that comes up, the rules at American newspapers get tighter and more reactionary. My favorite over-reach was the Miami Herald's bizarre firing of dance critic Octavio Roca a few years ago when it was discovered that he had plagiarized... wait for it... from himself. He had … [Read more...]