In the third paragraph of his August 6th article in The New York Times, Dan Wakin quotes Opera Omnia artistic director Wesley Chinn’s press release:
The first news release quoted the founder and artistic director, Wesley
Chinn, as saying, “I can’t actually pretend to quote myself in a
release I’m writing myself just to satisfy the conventions of
press-release style.”
Fourth paragraph:
If the tongue-in-cheek communiqué was meant to draw attention during
the summer doldrums, it worked. But further investigation reveals that
Opera Omnia is a serious entry into the ranks of small-bore companies
in New York. The troupe, consisting of performers mostly in their 20s
and 30s and operating on a tissue-thin budget, plans to stage its first
production this month at Le Poisson Rouge (the former Village Gate) on
Bleecker Street, starting on Aug. 21.
Well,
that’s new. Artists and administrators alike have confessed to me that
they wrote their own press releases for concerts, CD releases and
career moves, admissions always ending with “[dot dot dot] but please
don’t tell anyone.” One artist told me she created a Gmail account
under a fake name and pretended to be her own publicist, complete with
e mail exchanges such as, “Yes, let me check on Ms. X’s availability
for that interview.”
Why do we feel the need to operate under
the paper-thin veil of objectiveness? Artists pay me to represent them
to the media; does that make me more or less objective than an artist
representing him or herself? Perhaps slightly more, provided you give
me the benefit of the outside-perspective doubt, but I’m far from an
unbiased presenter of information; hardly a veritable “Wikipedia of
media relations”.
The Opera Omnia/Dan Wakin
piece represents a breaking down of the fourth wall of media outreach.
Not only did an artistic director clearly state that he was writing his
own press release, but a New York Times writer goes and
includes this detail in his feature! In fact, that aspect of the press
release seems to be the very thing that led Wakin to research the opera
company further. Would the affect (and result) have been the same if
Chinn had simply written his release in the first person? “My company,
Opera Omnia, will be performing at…on…at this time.”? Despite the
quality of writing or substance of presentation, a first-person narrative in a press release still has an amateur air,
but why? Is it better to have an exceedingly professional release about
a project/artist of lesser quality? Of course not, so why the stigma?
Before I fully put myself out of a career, I will say
this: one of a publicist’s most important jobs is reaching out to the appropriate critics about the appropriate projects in the appropriate tone. If I know
a critic, I’m not going to send him or her the formal “attached please find a
media alert…” e mail. Similarly, I wouldn’t send a critic a press
release about a new music project if he or she had never written a new music
review in his/her career. Dan Wakin appreciated the candor, drollness and ultimately the subject matter
of the Opera Omnia pitch. Perhaps Wesley Chinn did his research, or
perhaps he just got lucky. Either way, there’s a hopeful message in this: write press releases in whichever
voice or from whichever Gmail account you want, just write them well, don’t be afraid to show some personality, and do your homework on the critics.
I attended an informal showing by Opera Omnia at the Baryshnikov Arts Center, and I can tell you that those singers and musicians rock! It’s great that Chinn has a clever way with publicity and marketing because here’s a group that deserves every bit of attention that it can get.
As a psychiatrist, I am not surprised by the revelation that what may have been an example of simple artistic integrity is the subject of note in the hyperbolic world of artistic representation. Public relations specialists, advertisers, taste shapers and political campaign managers of all stripes know the power of an exaggerated message, be it a truth, half-truth or an out-right lie. In fact, the world of “free trade,” is desperately dependent on the trillions of dollars spent on such persuasion.
What I do find tragically interesting is that, in spite of the acknowledgment of the behavior-shaping value of advertising, both perceptual and subliminal, advertisers and other power brokers continue to have it both ways when the discussion is about violence, morality or politics: “yes, we can shape purchasing behavior, but no, we cannot shape violent behavior, or cause individuals to vote against their own best interests.”
In any event, my congratulations to Wesley Chinn for the breath of honesty he intentionally or unwittingly has blown over the world of promotion and persuasion.
I can’t wait to see a production by Opera Omnia.
Ange Lobue, MD, MPH, BSPharm
Diplomate, American Board of
Psychiatry and Neurology and
Member, Academy of Television
Arts and Sciences