[NEohioPAL]Friday listings

[TONY BROWN]

Whoa, whoa, whoa. This is entirely out of hand. Please. Take a deep breath =
and unknot your panties, everyone. Waiting. There. Better, yes?

We at The Plain Dealer already "curate" what we put in the paper. What we =
are doing now is exactly that. We're trying to figure out (and god knows, =
we're not rocket scientists nor is newspapering a science anyway) how best =
to serve the nearly 1 million readers we have each day (stats show that =
each paper is read by 2.something people). The conclusion reached by the =
editors in charge of redesigning Friday is that we could better cover the =
arts by getting rid of the auditions list, any edition of which might be =
of interest to a few hundred or even a few dozen people qualified for the =
parts advertised, and making way for other kinds of coverage. Perhaps you =
disagree with that, but reading something "sinister" into it is just =
silly.

I advise you to look around at a few other newspapers of the size of The =
Plain Dealer (the 18th largest daily in the country, btw) and name me one =
that lists all the theater auditions around town. Theater is important =
business in New York, but The Times and the other dailies in town do not =
list the auditions. Who would care except a few thousand actors? That's =
why the auditions are listed in a trade publication, Back Stage, the =
readership of which IS interested. Here, they're listed on our website as =
well as on Fred's trusty listserve.

What irks me most about this discussion is the idea that The Plain =
Dealer's theater coverage, whatever you think of it, exists to serve the =
theater community it covers. (Just imagine if our city government coverage =
existed to serve city government!) It doesn't. It exists because luckily =
the people in charge of the budget of The Plain Dealer for some reason =
still think that covering theater is important for our READERS, even =
though survey after survey after survey (as well as plummeting season and =
individual ticket sales) indicate that fewer and fewer people give a damn =
about theater. Again, look around at other papers and you'll find that The =
Plain Dealer devotes as much and usually more resources to its coverage of =
the arts, in terms of both space and personnel (The PD essentially has =
three theater critics -- myself, Carolyn Jack, who was theater critic at =
The Palm Beach Post, and Linda Eisenstein -- unheard of at most papers of =
this size; and we even have a staff dance critic, meaning one of our =
theater critics doesn't have to divide his time to pick up dance -- try to =
find that at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution!).

What we're trying to do is maximize use of that personnel and space to =
better serve our readers. It's not our job to publicize theater. That's =
YOUR job. It's our job to inform our readers, as best we can, what =
newsworthy is stuff is on in theater world, given limitations of space =
(newsprint is not infinite like cyberspace) and staffing. The PD has =
generous arts coverage, but there we are limited by reality and we are =
limited by the fact we are a general-interest newspaper, not a trade =
publication.

It was unfortunate that the general theater listings were erroneously left =
out of the first new Friday section, but hey, like everyone, we're human. =
Just remember the last time you went up on your lines. OK, OK, right: you =
never once went up on your lines. Then try to imagine. That's how we feel =
when such an error occurs. I had nothing to do with the omission, but I =
still feel terribly about it. Life goes on, and they'll get in next week.

But the auditions were a waste of space considering how much more =
important theater (and other art) news there is that's not getting into =
the paper because we're using a bit of our valuable resources on listings =
that not even 1 percent of our readership really cares about. Life is full =
of tradeoffs, and this is a very smart one that in my opinion was long =
overdue.

I can't say I always agree with every decision that is made by management =
here at the paper, especially when it comes to arts coverage in general =
and theater coverage specifically. But the loss of the audition notices is =
a very small issue. Save your anger. If -- as is happening at some very =
big newspapers around the country -- real arts coverage gets cut, =
reporters and critics and editors who leave don't get replaced, and =
reviews are dropped in favor of puff pieces, then I'll join you in tying =
up my panties.

For the time being, pick one:

Oy gevalt.

Get a life.

Sheesh.

Tony