New Battle Lines Drawn Between Press and Arts Organizations

Conducting Business

Usually, a polite discourse pervades arts journalism, but two recent cases underscore the tricky relationships between classical music organizations and the media that covers them.

After Opera House Revokes Critics' Tickets, Examining Practice of 'Freebies'

Last month, Opera Australia removed a music critic for the Sydney Morning Herald from its complimentary press ticket list after the company's artistic director was reportedly "very offended" by a piece on the newspaper's arts website. This was followed Jan. 2 by a similar “comp” list ban against a critic for the publication Stage Noise. And in New York, a theatrical press agent blacklisted Wall Street Journal writer Joanne Kaufman, after she admitted to "bolting" from Broadway shows during intermission.

These cases together raise ethical questions about the relationship between critics and the organizations they cover, and especially, the practice of providing free press tickets to reviewers covering a performance. Joining us to look more closely at this practice is Kelly McBride, a media ethicist who is vice president for academic programs at the Poynter Institute.

"In the ideal world, I think journalism organizations would pay for their own tickets all the time," McBride tells host Naomi Lewin. "But we do not live in an ideal world," she added, referring to the difficult financial environment at many news organizations.

That being said, "the audience does expect those journalists to put their loyalties with the audience. If journalists don't do that, and it becomes apparent to the audience, they'll lose credibility."

Listen to the full segment above.

Colorado Symphony and Radio Station Part Ways

Colorado Symphony at Boettcher Concert Hall in Denver
(©Jedediah Liddell)

The complex relationship between arts organizations and the media was brought to light in another recent case. Late last year, Colorado Public Radio announced that it will no longer carry broadcasts of the Colorado Symphony, ending a 15-year partnership. The reasons are varied, but the key sticking point was editorial: specifically, the orchestra wanted a lot more positive coverage on the radio. Ray Rinaldi, the fine arts critic of the Denver Post, tells us what was at the heart of the split.

"Basically the orchestra wanted the radio station to collude with it in turning the live broadcasts into marketing for the symphony," he explained. "The station didn't want to be promoting the symphony. They were happy to be a neutral party in bringing the concerts to the community, but they didn't want to appear to be doing marketing in favor of one organization over the other."

There were other issues in the breakup as well. The Colorado Symphony also bought underwriting on the station, anywhere from $50,000 to $100,000 worth, and expected more preferential treatment as a result.

Rinaldi tells us where things went off the rails and why this is significant in an age of Internet distribution.

Listen to the full podcast above and tell us what you think by clicking on the gray comments bar below.