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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Doug: Glad you’re back in action. Are you back in your house? Is your bedroom still under siege? I must say, even without the Great Tree, your place looks beautiful. And look on the bright side (if there ever is a bright side in the skies of Seattle): now you’ll have more sun in your […]