You’ve probably heard of the argument that says newspapers, even the high brow broadsheets, are dumming down their coverage of the arts. Editorial space that used to be reserved for reviews and discussion about the arts has become dominated by lightweight coverage of what’s on TV, the latest movie blockbusters, and celebrity gossip. According to Ulrika Brand, former senior publicist at New York’s Guggenheim Museum, it’s a case of pop culture winning out at “the expense of dance, architecture and the visual arts.”
Brand cites the findings of a Columbia University research study contained in it’s 140 page report, ‘Reporting the Arts, News Coverage of Arts and Culture in America’, which analysed 15,000 articles published in newspapers across 10 metropolitan areas in the USA, and found that “in many newsrooms, arts journalism continues to be a lower priority than other fields such as business and sports.” The report, published in 1999, also found that whilst “television, movies, music and books” were “usually heavily covered” the “visual arts, architecture, dance and radio receive only cursory attention” and “the visual arts are rarely handled by a full-time staffer.”
Whether the American findings can be said to reflect similar trends occuring in the UK is difficult to say, the US research was groundbreaking and nothing like it has been conducted over here. In a global review of the “arts and entertainment fight for column space”, San Francisco-based freelance writer Amy Westervelt praised British newspapers like the The Guardian, The Telegraph, The Sunday Times and The Financial Times for helping to “foster a vibrant arts journalism community.” Westervelt says coverage, “is still weighted towards the performing arts, with more theater critics than arts columnists at most dailies and weeklies and more column space allotted to theater reviews than art criticism.” Westervelt also suggests that British papers, as in the US, “have had to take column space away from traditional arts coverage to make room for interviews with the latest ingénue or pop star.”
Given that media ownership is increasingly concentrated in fewer and fewer hands, it is reasonable to suspect that trends highlighted by ‘Reporting the Arts’ will eventually reach our shores, if they haven’t already.
With this in mind the follow up to the 1999 report, ‘Reporting the Arts II, New Coverage of Arts and Culture in America’, makes for more interesting reading. The editors of the 2004 report state, “While more Americans are participating in cultural activities than at any time in our history, and although the arts have evolved to unprecedented size and complexity, the resources that metropolitan newsrooms allocate to the arts are generally flat or in retreat…Reportage and criticism about the arts are not keeping up with society.”
Fortunately arts journalists are able to exploit media other than just the major city newspapers.
The UK is fortunate to have numerous general arts, as well as many artform specific, print publications, which provide extensive coverage of the arts and it’s various scenes. In addition there are scores of online arts magazines and websites dedicated to publishing discourse, debate, criticism, reviews, and a dvice.
Publishing online allows information to be disseminated rapidly and cost effectively, something most artists can really appreciate. In addition it has the potential to foster powerful discussion between arts writers and the community. As arts blogger Andras Szanto wrote in an Arts Journal blog back in May “critical dialogue, or any kind of dialogue, thrives…happily online.”
The internet allows discussions about the arts to take place almost in real time. The protagonists can be anyone with online access. Geography, professional standing, time, and every other inhibitor to constructive debate are removed allowing new arguments bringing new perspectives to old debates, to evolve quickly and easily.
With so much happening in the arts there is a real need to ensure journalistic coverage is as diverse and engaging as the subjects being covered. Arts and cultural journalism courses around the country offer students a range of exciting specialisms. This year also sees the launch of a new course designed for deaf and disabled journalists working in the arts, run by Shape. Arts journalism may be less high profile in the mainstream press but it’s a case of one door closing and 20 more being opened: now is a great time to writing about the arts.
