The hottest show on cable news right now is Glenn Beck's program, which debuted on Fox News a few months ago. If you haven't seen Stephen Colbert's send-up of him, check this out: The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cThe 10.31 Projectcomedycentral.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorNASA Name Contest Beck is a hysteric, but he's getting huge ratings. He's actually beating every … [Read more...]
AP Throws A Tantrum (But Tantrums Do Not A Successful Business Model Make)
AP says it will "take action" against web aggregators that don't pay fees for linking to AP stories. Taking aim at the way news is spread across the Internet, The Associated Press said on Monday that it will demand that Web sites obtain permission to use the work of The A.P. or its member newspapers, and share revenue with the news organizations, and that it will take legal action those that do … [Read more...]
When Technology Blows Up Your Strategy
Often when people talk about using technology, what they're really talking about is platforms. A blog is a platform. A Facebook page is a platform. A YouTube channel is a platform. They aren't technology strategies. Platforms are constantly changing, and if you're locked into one, it's difficult to keep up when the next one comes along. A smart technology strategy isn't dependent on a platform, … [Read more...]
Anatomy of The Downfall of a Critic
Cleveland Magazine has the details about how the Cleveland Plain Dealer took longtime music critic Donald Rosenberg off the Cleveland Orchestra beat. Rosenberg is now suing the orchestra and the newspaper, saying that he was unfairly muzzled. The portrait is of a critic who cares deeply about his job and how he covered the orchestra, an orchestra that grew increasingly unhappy with Rosenberg's … [Read more...]
A Bad Symphony Orchestra Story (And A Cautionary Tale?)
A dreadful story coming out of the Phoenix Symphony. And I hear the orchestra is asking for major salary concessions from the musicians. … [Read more...]
My newspaper won't leave me alone
Back in January I finally canceled my subscription to the daily newspaper. Tough (and symbolic) thing to do. I've always subscribed to the local paper. My paper had become thinner and thinner as the stories I used to buy it for drained away with cuts in space and staff. Many of the stories were now being written by interns.I'm an online guy, and I get most of my news online. Still, it seemed … [Read more...]
The Next Newspaper Casualty?
The latest newspaper to teeter to the edge of existence is the Chicago Sun-Times, which has just filed for bankruptcy, joining a half dozen other major papers: The company has one significant creditor -- the Internal Revenue Service. The IRS has said Sun-Times Media Group owes up to $608 million in back taxes and penalties from past business practices by its former controlling owner, Conrad Black, … [Read more...]
Dog Days, A new ArtsJournal Blog
Today we're happy to launch Dalouge Smith's new blog on arts advocacy. It's called Dog Days. Dalouge runs the San Diego Youth Symphony, and we met last summer in Chicago while I was writing a story on new thinking in how to run orchestras. Why a blog on arts advocacy? There's an awful lot of talking about the state of the arts, about the survival of the arts, and about the place of the arts in the … [Read more...]
The New TV Journalism?
Where are all those laid off journalists going? Why to TV of course... … [Read more...]
You Know You're In Trouble When You're Just A Can Of Peas
Interactivity has been redefined in the past few years. Newspapers used to think they were interactive because they ran letters to the editor. Rarely did they respond to the letters (unless those letters demanded a correction), but "hearing from the readers" became a mantra for the focus-group-driven news organization.Arts organizations have also prided themselves for being interactive. Applause, … [Read more...]