The Opera Tattler

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Signs of Classical Music Journalism’s Demise

A couple of years ago Martin Bernheimer wrote a piece entitled "Critics in a hostile world" for the Financial Times, blaming the Interwebs for killing off newspapers. Up until that point, I had not thought much about bloggers taking the place of professional music critics. Of course, anyone can start a blog. There are loads of them, most quite boring. It is difficult to even find an audience, given the amount of content, or lack thereof, that is out there. With a newspaper, whether in print or online, it is clear where to go.

This month Bernheimer covered journalist Donald Rosenberg's lawsuit against The Plain Dealer and the Cleveland Orchestra. Rosenberg lost, and this doesn't bode well for critics, obviously. Now the music critic of the Orange County Register, Tim Mangan, has been reassigned to cover celebrity nonsense. It is all rather alarming.

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4 responses to “Signs of Classical Music Journalism’s Demise”

  1. sfmike Avatar
    sfmike

    Your title is misleading. “Music Journalism’s Demise” shouldn’t be confused with “Mass-Circulation Journalism’s Demise,” partly because there is more interesting writing about classical music at the present moment thanks to the internet than at any other time in history. You’re a Living Example.
    BTW, could you put my Merola Grand Finale review link up at your exhaustively complete Merola link site? Thank you. And I hope you have recovered from all those ridiculous flowers you were inhaling at that concert. (You should have just thrown them over the pit onto the stage after each scena.)

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  2. Not For Fun Only Avatar
    Not For Fun Only

    Flower tossing would have been excellent. I don’t think I’ve seen that lately. I remember when people would pitch bouquets, stems first, like darts. The singers would occasionally make spectacular low catches.

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  3. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    It is just very difficult for me to take the Tattler seriously. I probably should work on that.
    I read your review on my phone, and somehow missed linking it. Thanks for the reminder! I am fully recovered, and off to a good start for the new season.

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  4. The Opera Tattler Avatar
    The Opera Tattler

    I do not have the throwing technique to pull this off, unfortunately.

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