Is it Journalism? Classical Radio and the Arts Community

The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is launching a new integrated media site called CSO Sounds and Stories, and in the subtitle of their press release they’re calling it “the first brand journalism site by a major American orchestra” (italics mine).  It’s basically an online music magazine, rich in audio (including the radio shows) and with unique content — a great place to hear the Chicago Symphony online, especially for non-Chicagoans.

A thoughtful article by Chris Jones in the Chicago Tribune online claims that they shouldn’t call it “journalism” because it’s really p.r.

“To the best of our knowledge … the CSO becomes the first major American orchestra to have a dedicated music journalism site,” wrote Philip Koester, the CSO’s vice president of sales and marketing (the italics are mine). “Since publications now have fewer resources to devote to the arts, it is more difficult for the CSO to obtain media coverage, especially previews of coming programs.”

As any experienced arts journalist will tell you, previews are what arts organizations covet most (whether readers share their enthusiasm is a different matter). Because these stories are written in advance of the artistic endeavor, and because few honest arts journalists are inclined to condemn the artist who has yet to play a note or speak a line, these articles tend to be upbeat. And such well-timed stories can be very effective when it comes to selling tickets. Reviews are a different matter, because they feature a critical voice that may well have the opposite effect and that the organization under review cannot control. I don’t accept that there is any lack of CSO coverage at the Tribune, but there is no question that Koester is correct that previews are harder to snag, as newspapers have tended to focus their arts-journalism resources on their watchdog role, which is, for example, a central mission of the Chicago Tribune.

…what the CSO is doing is not music journalism.

Jones is right that you would never expect the CSO’s new media site to publish anything negative about the CSO.

Disclaimer: I work for the CSO producing their broadcasts, so my bias is obvious, but what I want to discuss in this post is whether arts journalism is really journalism at all.

Remember when Lisa Simeone, who hosts the CSO broadcasts and used to host an NPR arts show, got fired from NPR and made national news for participating in the Occupy movement?  Critics said she shouldn’t be allowed to have political opinions because she works for a news organization.  But her role at that organization was to host a music show — an obvious pro-music position that was more promotional than reporter-ly.

I’ve been working in classical radio for a lot of years, including 12 years on-air, during which part of my job was to promote local arts events — interviewing local artists, keeping an arts calendar, airing live performances, etc.  I diligently attended some 200 concerts a year so I could report honestly, and the “journalism” occurred in curating — choosing which events to promote more heavily.  But I’ve also worked on the other side of the equation, as an arts producer, practicing musician, and presenter.

When I ran a Handel Festival in Seattle, I held a press conference for all my colleagues in the media to let them know about the various events.  We got fabulous coverage in print and on the radio.  We bought advertising and got a lot more that was free.  It’s how the arts work.  Without our beloved media, the arts absolutely could not survive. 

And that is a big, big issue.  As newspapers have declined generally, the first staff members to go were the arts critics.  Arts coverage has shrunk drastically, the cost of print ads is prohibitive for small non-profit arts orgs, and radio ads are just ridiculously expensive.  The equation changed when newspapers stopped being partners with the arts community.

Radio and online sites are where arts journalism lives now.  They may be more promotional in nature than critical, but they are communicating, which is the role of journalism.  The arts don’t really need to be treated as though they were political or controversial.  Every audience member is a critic and there’s plenty more criticism online.  What Chris Jones calls “arts journalism” is more like opinion, and if there’s only one critic reviewing an event, how valuable can that one opinion be?

All you have to do to see the value of opinion is watch the Sunday political shows on TV, where the preponderance of guests are old white Republican men.  Balanced, my eye.

The CSO’s new site is doing the job journalists (meaning their corporate masters) have failed to do, which is to nurture a vibrant arts ecosystem where both the journalists and the artists thrive.