Friday, July 04, 2003
Music journo posts his thoughts on responsible music journalism:
"Music journalists need to remember that we're writing not for publicists, nor bands, nor concert promoters, and certainly not for record labels, but for our readers. And as long as you believe what you're doing is being honest with your readers about whatever your subject is, and as long as you're actually taking time to try to say something useful and thoughtful about that subject, you should never have to worry about what those other parties make of your work. It isn't that way, of course, thanks to tons of promo whores, a few spineless editors, and an array of magazines that live to stroke their advertisers, but that shouldn't change the way a good critic writes. All it should, and does, change is the way such writers are received by the industry they cover and many of the possible outlets for their work. That is, write honestly, do the right thing, and now and then you're gonna face a shitstorm, plus you're never gonna get work from the Entertainment Weeklies of the world (as if that were something any self-respecting writer could possibly want anyhow). It's a lousy price to pay, but it beats the hell out of betraying yourself and your readers."
(in the race to the moon, in the race to the moon ... much more than those provisos in the June 18 post at Moon Hoax, but it's still true today all these weeks later).
¶ 7/04/2003 09:38:00 AM
"Music journalists need to remember that we're writing not for publicists, nor bands, nor concert promoters, and certainly not for record labels, but for our readers. And as long as you believe what you're doing is being honest with your readers about whatever your subject is, and as long as you're actually taking time to try to say something useful and thoughtful about that subject, you should never have to worry about what those other parties make of your work. It isn't that way, of course, thanks to tons of promo whores, a few spineless editors, and an array of magazines that live to stroke their advertisers, but that shouldn't change the way a good critic writes. All it should, and does, change is the way such writers are received by the industry they cover and many of the possible outlets for their work. That is, write honestly, do the right thing, and now and then you're gonna face a shitstorm, plus you're never gonna get work from the Entertainment Weeklies of the world (as if that were something any self-respecting writer could possibly want anyhow). It's a lousy price to pay, but it beats the hell out of betraying yourself and your readers."
(in the race to the moon, in the race to the moon ... much more than those provisos in the June 18 post at Moon Hoax, but it's still true today all these weeks later).
¶ 7/04/2003 09:38:00 AM
