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Whenever there is a time when an intense interest in, say, a sport comes along, we can depend on the daily newspapers to offer expanded coverage. These two festivals are probably the arts equivalent of "playoffs time" in terms of audience interest and art activity. But instead of covering these activities in more detail, The Inquirer offers less coverage of each event and doesn't cover many events AT ALL.
I recognize that the Festivals are a challenge to cover. But how about some discussion of the responsibility of the critical community (I use this term in hopes that one might someday arise) to write in depth about this work.
Maybe it's time for the Inquirer to restaff its depleted theater & dance staffs and to devote some real space to the arts.
Maybe its time for the Daily News to consider covering culture at all.
Maybe the weeklies need to pick up the slack. (Doing it on the web is great guys...but shouldn't that mean your writers can write IN DEPTH?)
And maybe it's time for us to do the work of a healthy comunity of critics right here and right now...because newspaper coverage overall has decreased in quality pretty steadily over the 20 years I've been paying attention.
I'm thinking about ways to make this better. If anyone is interested...repond here...
I recognize that the Festivals are a challenge to cover. But how about some discussion of the responsibility of the critical community (I use this term in hopes that one might someday arise) to write in depth about this work.
Maybe it's time for the Inquirer to restaff its depleted theater & dance staffs and to devote some real space to the arts.
Maybe its time for the Daily News to consider covering culture at all.
Maybe the weeklies need to pick up the slack. (Doing it on the web is great guys...but shouldn't that mean your writers can write IN DEPTH?)
And maybe it's time for us to do the work of a healthy comunity of critics right here and right now...because newspaper coverage overall has decreased in quality pretty steadily over the 20 years I've been paying attention.
I'm thinking about ways to make this better. If anyone is interested...repond here...
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Re: On press coverage in general...
Thu, September 9, 2004 - 7:48 PMIn my opinion, Philadelphia has only one critic of note, or with the real desire to see the arts work and thrive here. J. Cooper Robb at the Weekly. I think his work tends to be dead on, and he offers his readers a greater insight to the pieces, be it theater or dance.
Considering how much the Arts make Philadelphia work, after living here going on 7 years, I am still stunned at the lack of coverage offered by the "major" papers, and that even Mr. Robb had his reviews cut down the mere paragraphs that his "Footlights" had become for awhile. THANK GOD the good folks at PW saw the light, so to speak and have him back writing full reviews and features again.
I seem to think his peers at the Inky and Citypaper (anyone hear the one about the Citypaper review who stormed out of a performance of DON JUAN IN NIRVANA...and notice no DON JUAN review in that paper to date?) to some extent are more interested in theater in NYC, or dance comapnies touring to such venues as the Annenberg or Kimmel.
There has been a great deal of talk about the philly dance community needing to build it's capacity and it's audience's... what about building it's critics? because who has such major power to effect the growth of our artists, and the opinion of the general public?
anyway, i guess if i was smart i wouldn't be calling for the ouster of all the Critics ( minus Mr. Robb), but i am. I agree with the last poster that it's time for the Inky to revamp it's tired staff, and for the CityPaper to really step up it's year roung coverage. and yes, does the Daily News know that theater and dance even happen here?
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Re: On press coverage in general...
Thu, September 9, 2004 - 7:49 PMIn my opinion, Philadelphia has only one critic of note, or with the real desire to see the arts work and thrive here. J. Cooper Robb at the Weekly. I think his work tends to be dead on, and he offers his readers a greater insight to the pieces, be it theater or dance.
Considering how much the Arts make Philadelphia work, after living here going on 7 years, I am still stunned at the lack of coverage offered by the "major" papers, and that even Mr. Robb had his reviews cut down to the mere paragraphs that his "Footlights" colum had become for awhile. THANK GOD the good folks at PW saw the light, so to speak, and have him back writing full reviews and features again.
I seem to think his peers at the Inky and Citypaper (anyone hear the one about the Citypaper review who stormed out of a performance of DON JUAN IN NIRVANA...and notice no DON JUAN review in that paper to date?) to some extent are more interested in theater in NYC, or dance companies touring to such venues as the Annenberg or Kimmel.
There has been a great deal of talk about the philly dance community needing to build it's capacity and it's audience's... what about building it's critics? because who has such major power to effect the growth of our artists, and the opinion of the general public?
anyway, i guess if i was smart i wouldn't be calling for the ouster of all the Critics ( minus Mr. Robb), but i am. I agree with the last poster that it's time for the Inky to revamp it's tired staff, and for the CityPaper to really step up it's year roung coverage. and yes, does the Daily News know that theater and dance even happen here?
