Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
>  I just wish folks who are spending so much energy and attention on
 the "Nazi salute" controversy would give it a rest.

Musk is also apparently supporting AfD, the far right German party, and
meddling in German politics. That the president of the United States is
close to someone who is Nazi adjacent is a big, big problem.
  

    
I said elsewhere that I'd come over with some comments on the state of the
journalistic area I am most familiar with. It is a niche area but one that
used to be on the pages of most daily papers with dedicated journalists:
classical music and opera journalism.

We are at a point in this country where I think there are not many 
full-time classical music/opera writers working for a specific 
publication. They are Zachary Woolfe at the Times (where editor Joshua 
Barone is also a regular classical/opera writer), Mark Swed at the LA 
Times (but everybody knows that Swed is winding down and will retire 
fairly soon; he's in his late 70s and lost his wife recently), Michael 
Brodeur at the Washington Post, Jeremy Reynolds at the Pittsburgh 
Post-Gazette, A.Z. Madonna at the Boston Globe, Heidi Waleson at the Wall 
St. Journal (I am not sure whether she is a staff writer or freelance, 
though), Zachary Lewis at the Cleveland Plain Dealer, Alex Ross at The New 
Yorker, and hardly any more than that.

Pretty much any byline you see other than the ones above is for a 
freelancer. And a couple of the writers above are supported by funds 
provided by the late Stephen Rubin (if that funding survived his death) 
and Gordon Getty.

The Bay Area really exemplifies the collapse of classical music 
journalism. A decade ago, you'd have reviews of important concerts and 
operas by:

Joshua Kosman, Chronicle
Richard Scheinin, Mercury News
Janos Gereben, Examiner (I remain confused about what this was.)
Georgia Rowe, East Bay Times (formerly Contra Costa Times)
Allan Ulrich (Somewhere)
Somebody from San Francisco Classical Voice

Now? Hahahaha.

Joshua retired from the Chron last year and now has a weekly newsletter. 
The Chron did not hire a replacement.

Rich was moved to the real estate beat and then laid off. He now writes 
mostly about jazz as a freelancer.

Janos's work dried up.

Geogia was laid off and now freelances but is on the verge of retiring.

Allan  died a couple of years ago.

SFCV is thriving.

The Chronicle and SFCV now have a deal to publish certain reviews of 
important performances in both publications, first in the Chron, then in 
SFCV, the next day. The Chronicle is also publishing unique stories by 
certain freelancers, well, by ME. I've written five or six stories for 
them that did not run in SFCV, because I have knowledge that no one else 
writing for them or SFCV currently has. I'm doing much of their news 
reportage on SF Opera, for example.

(I have to run to a concert I'm reviewing....)
  

    
what a public service you are providing
  

    
sunbear, your then/now summary really illustrates what's happened in
local media over the past generation.

Niche journalism -- or at least niche commentary -- is indeed
thriving in some cases to replace beat coverage that dried up along
with the media companies that used to provide it. The SFCV is a
perfect example, and provides a great service for its audience,
though I'm not clear on its business model. 

One big problem for niche sites is Google, which has all too often
changed its algorithm in ways that boost trash and demote good
stuff, even as it claims to be doing the opposite. See, for example:

https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/2/24147152/google-search-seo-publishing-housef
resh-product-reviews
  

    
Thanks, Dan.

The consolidation in classical music journalism has happened just in the
last decade. As Joshua Kosman said - either in an interview or at his
retirement party (a public interview by another Chron arts writer), "When
everything was in print, we thought classical reviews were being read. Now
we have click and view data and know better."

SFCV is a nonprofit, launched in...1996? 98? by Robert Commanday, who was
the Chronicle's reviewer for even longer than Joshua. (They overlapped from
Joshua's hiring to Bob's retirement, because the Chron was okay with having
two full-time reviewers and at least one freelancer contributing.) Gordon
Getty provided some of the initial funding and I think has continued to
contribute.

SFCV has ads from many of the major performing arts groups around here and
might also have major arts groups as donors, given the comparative lack of
arts journalism. In the last few years, SFCV has expanded to include LA;
there are usually a few out-of-town reviews (Santa Fe Opera, Bayreuth)
annually; there are imitators all over the country.
  

    
There's a digital publication I like a lot, called "I Care If You
Listen" that's been covering contemporary classical music for more
than a decade. It was a labor of love for all involved from 2010ish
to 2020, when it was acquired by the American Composers Forum. 

https://icareifyoulisten.com/

Has contemporary art coverage has gone the way of classical music
coverage? My guess would be yes.

In a similar vein, there's a great digital art news outlet:
Hyperallergic, an independent publication that is "sensitive to art
and its discontents." It was founded in 2009 to shake up and
diversify both what's being covered and who's covering it.

On the home page right now, there are articles about happenings in
Maine, Kentucky, Philadelphia, NYC, Kingston (Jamaica), DC and
Boston.

https://hyperallergic.com/
  

    
I'm a regular reader of "I Care If You Listen," which is indeed very good.
  

    
Yay, another ICIYL fan. 

I've met one of the co-founders of Hyperallergic, and if I remember
correctly, they went about this pretty smartly. They developed a
revenue stream of advertising from arts institutions, and as the
coverage grew, launched a membership program. 
  

    <scribbled by emilyg Mon 27 Jan 25 17:20>
  

    
(Whoops, sorry about that - I missed a typo and couldn't bear to
leave it up.)

Today is the last official day of "State of the News 2025." 

Thank you, panelists, for sharing your time and thoughts here for
the past two weeks. Thanks to everyone who's participated. This
topic will remain open, and folks are welcome to continue
conversing.

There's a quote from a journalist-turned-novelist that seems to sum
up our two-week conversation: 

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." 

We're two and a half decades and counting into the collapse of the
old business model. The impact of disinformation on erstwhile news
audiences has helped drive the country into this very dark era. We
don't know when we'll come out the other side, and there's way too
much uncertainty about what'll happen on the way.

Yet we're also two decades into enthusiasts and entrepreneurs
building back the business. Non-profit news continues to grow. There
are still young people determined to become journalists — and who
apparently are pragmatic about what that'll take. There are still
many of us who continue to do the work. 

I'll wrap up with another quote from that former journalist: 

"Take nothing on its looks; take everything on evidence. There's no
better rule." 
  

    
Also: 

"It was the best of The Times, it was the worst of The Times."
"Who Guards The Guardian"?
"The end of The World is nigh"
  

    

Thank you for your wonderful hosting, Emily!
  

    
Yes, thanks, Emily! And thanks to all journalists and others who
joined the discussion!
  

    
It's been a pleasure. And that journalist-turned-novelist is wise. 
  

    
Thank you to all -- this is a conversation that should go on and
on...
  

    
It can and should!
  

    
Drop by anytime! We never close!
  

    

Heya all. There is so much happening in the news industry right now,​
that I'm going to take my own conference up on its own rule that​
conversations can continue past the formal end date of the event. 

I'll re-open the conversation with this cautiously uplifting story​
out of Wyoming: 

- On August 6, News Media Corporation (not to be confused with​
NewsCorp) announced it was shutting down all its publications, which​
are local newspapers, immediately,

- On August 12, three veteran news execs in Wyoming local news​
announced an agreement to buy all eight papers from News Media​
Corporation, plan on rehiring all staff.

https://www.wyomingnews.com/news/local_news/veteran-wyoming-news-execs-announc
e-agreement-to-save-8-newspapers/article_a4ce23e0-8331-4435-9655-8bc03c920c1c.
html
 
  

    


The intended focus of "state of the news" is to discuss the industry​
or practice of journalism. 

Please, no politicking or griefing (such as: no blanket statments​
about "the mainstream media"). The WELL's media conf is a good place​
to share those frustrations — and, dear reader, if you are not yet​
a WELL member, then I invite you warmly to join us!
  

    
I hope Wyomingans will give them good support!
  

    


What may be facilitating the deal is that buyers are talking with a​
Wyoming-based news company that owned and operated the papers for​
decades, not a big newspaper chain like Gannett, or private equity​
vultures.


My friend Katherine Rowlands bought Bay City News Service several​
years ago, and took it nonprofit. I don't know whether the purchase​
situation was similar, but upshot is similar: A local news veteran​
buying a local or regional news outlet.

Kind of like how WELL members bought the WELL from Salon, now that I​
think about it.
  

    

In other industry news that is the opposite of cautiously uplifting,​
Trump has again voiced threats against ABC and NBC: Since they run​
"bad stories" about him, it proves they're biased, and he'd be okay​
with the FCC revoking their licenses. 

Much of the reporting I've seen so far is emphasizing the​
legalities, in that the local stations, the affiliates, have the​
broadcast licenses, not the national networks. (Although the​
networks do own stations in several major markets, I believe.) 

As this story moves, though, the following analyses should emerge:

- Disney, which owns ABC, already appeased Trump by settling a​
defamation lawsuit it would have won. So selling out is not working​
so well for Disney, and potentially the only people surprised about​
that are its board of directors.

- This is an escalation of his war to dismantle the national news​
media. He's made big strides by defunding NPR and public TV. 

- Chilling the free press? This is more like dumping a metric ton of​
ice cubes on local station owners (such as there are) and​
management.

- How free are local news stations? Sinclair Broadcast Group owns or​
operates nearly 200 local stations that reach 4 in 10 Americans, and​
has already skewed their politial and national coverage to the​
right.
  

    
Oh, I neglected to list under "war to dismantle national news media"​
that as part of the administration's approval of the​
Skydance-Paramount merger, both companies agreed to "ensure CBS news​
and entertainment programming is free of bias and hire an ombudsman​
for at least two years to review complaints." 


https://www.reuters.com/business/trump-again-pushes-us-agency-revoke-nbc-abc-s
tation-licenses-2025-08-25/
  

    

Speaking a journalist in the online climate and environmental press,​
it feels like my kind of work is getting riskier when news companies​
with the most money and power to withstand this kind of pressure​
capitulate, instead.
  

    
It's dangerous both ways - makes it riskier to report the news, and​
makes the news you report less credible when it's compared to what​
the spectrum of popular media report.