http://www.ohio.com/mld/ohio/entertainment/9995236.htm

   Critics take critical look at arts news coverage
   Elaine Guregian, Akron Bacon Journal, Oct. 24, 2004

   How do you like your arts news?  Are you looking for lots of
   reviews, or other kinds of stories?  What is the function of
   a critic: consumer adviser, educator, arts advocate?

   How has the blurring of boundaries between artistic categories
   changed what critics need to do?

   Last weekend, I joined music critics from around the world
   at Columbia University for a conference to talk about the
   role of the music critic, and how it has changed in the years
   since a similar session was held at Harvard in 1948.

   The symposium, organized by the National Arts Journalism
   Program and the Music Critics Association of North America,
   consisted of speakers and panel discussions set up to look
   at trends in music criticism, specifically of classical music.
   Some of the things we talked about:

   - Most cities now have just one newspaper.  Even in New York
   City, the New York Times is the only paper to devote significant
   space to classical music and the other arts.  This magnifies
   the impact of the comments any single critic makes.  Visiting
   European critics said that with many journalists at any given
   event, they know that a variety of viewpoints will be aired.

   - According to a survey completed in August, classical music
   critics tend to be male (74 percent) and white (92 percent),
   with a median age of 52.  Nearly two-thirds hold graduate
   degrees, and 96 percent have formal training in music.  For
   the record, I'm a white female a bit younger than the median,
   with training as an oboist, a bachelor's degree in music
   history from the University of Michigan and a master's degree
   in music history from the University of Chicago.

   - Do reviews matter to performers?  Conductor James Conlon,
   who will visit the Cleveland Orchestra next month, told the
   critics that 2 percent of his colleagues admit to reading
   reviews.  "The other 98 percent lie," he said.

   Conlon sees a paradox in that music schools in the United
   States are turning out the best musicians ever, while performing
   organizations are worried about declining audiences.  Not
   only that, but cutbacks in school music programs mean that
   listeners have less background than they used to.  What can
   critics do?  Don't just correct and admonish in their reviews,
   but try to raise the consciousness of readers, he said.  Don't
   just talk about performances but the issues surrounding them.

   - Classical musicians need to come down from their ivory
   towers, more than one speaker said.  Conductors who are
   comfortable talking to audiences should do it.  And in the
   spirit of opening doors, critics need to do a better job of
   educating audiences who want to understand the art form but
   don't have a way into it.

   - Newspapers are more interested than ever in the business
   of the arts, but staffs have not grown to accommodate this
   coverage.  Reviewers often have to write about deficits or
   labor negotiations.  When organizations are having financial
   problems, as many are today, reviewers can feel pressured to
   temper negative comments about the artistic deficiencies, so
   as not to damage the organizations.  Conlon suggested that
   splitting these functions between two people could help ease
   the tension between newspapers and arts institutions.

   - More performances of world music, and more fluid boundaries
   between all styles of music, means that critics need to educate
   themselves beyond classical music.

   Osvaldo Golijov, an in-demand composer whose music can't be
   neatly classified, said critics should think about the context
   of a composition before they start evaluating its success.
   Meredith Monk, a long-established artist, said newspapers
   never know who to send to her performances, because they're
   about theater, dance and music.  Critics who are equipped to
   see things from a broad cultural context will be the best
   able to handle a review of Monk or the many others now who
   cross boundaries.

   - The trend at newspapers everywhere is away from the traditional
   model of previews and reviews.  Arts news stories, advances
   and creative new ways of handling stories are seen by editors
   as more compelling ways to draw in readers than reviews.
   Editors said critics can be traditional and resist change,
   but argued that to do so is not in the best interest of
   readers.

   Elaine Guregian is the Beacon Journal's classical music critic.
   She can be reached by phone at 330-996-3574 or e-mail at
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Janos Gereben
www.sfcv.org
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