Arts Journalism

Quiet Corner by Bradford Salamon

Quiet Corner by Bradford Salamon

The NAJP, National Arts Journalism Program, NAJP, is this country’s largest organization dedicated to the advancement of arts and cultural journalism, according to its website. The website further explains, NAJP has produced research, publications and discussions and works to bring together journalists, artists, news executives, cultural organization administrators, funders and others concerned with arts and culture in America today.

In September 2009, the alternative weekly, Chicago Reader, wrote: In the last two years, 50 percent of arts journalism jobs have been lost… When the NAJP started in 1994, nearly 90 percent of the journalists who applied for its fellowships were staffers from big news institutions; only a small percentage were freelancers...By 2006 the percentages had flipped: applicants were 90 percent freelancers and only 10 percent staff…A lot of people are talking about the crisis in journalism. But I think it's a tremendously interesting time...What we have now is the opportunity for new approaches.

(Please see About Me page for more about Arts Journalism.)

Paradigm Shift

In the last six years, several publications I have written for have stopped publishing; others have changed format or stopped hiring freelance writers.

I don't have huge corporations backing me or foundations offering me money. I do have increasing knowledge of tools of the digital revolution. Admittedly, I am dealing with a major paradigm shift as an arts journalist – one that is forcing me to learn new skills in self-publishing, self-promotion and using the Internet to generate income. I am also learning to work with the vast Internet community through dialogue within my website/platform and through social networking.

Liz Goldner

Comments for
Arts Journalism

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Jul 02, 2010
 The Democratization of Arts Journalism
by: JohnSzabo

For far too long a limited number of printed publications and too few art critics were seen as authorities on the art scene, artists, art openings, etc.

I think it healthy that things like www.contemporary-art-dialogue.com give skilled and thoughtful art critics like Liz Goldner a forum and also allow for artists like myself to participate.

The democratization of arts journalism is a good thing. Per below yes I have an M.A. in journalism but truth be told I was very frustrated with the theoretical, ivory white tower, academic psycho-babble and learned far more on my own in the library and by immersing myself in the real art world.

John Szabo
Ernie Pyle School of Journalism
Indiana Univerisity
M.A in Journalism
Concentration in Reporting the Arts
szabojohn@sbcglobal.net
www.ocmodernart.com
Jul 02, 2010
 Fiat Lux
by: Rick Steim

I tuned in to the full 4 hour webcast of the NAJP Summit, and found the diversity of the projects selected as finalists to be refreshing. There was also a mostly upbeat attitude exhibited by participants over the brave new world of the internet and what it might ultimately offer arts journalists. The most serious concerns seemed to be over the issues of how the traditional "firewall" between editorial and business sides can be maintained within the new business models emerging, and how to ensure that serious criticism and reviews continue to find a place on these sites.

Rick Stein
Executive Director
Arts Orange County
Jul 02, 2010
 NAJP
by: Steve Furman

First, it's great to see that the arts community is getting a grasp, sobering as it is, of the decline in traditional means to discuss, debate and inspire others to experience art of all types.

The second thing that stands out for me is it's very early days. There is significant inertia around print vehicles while the switch to digital has been quite rapid and led to negative impact as is mentioned by the loss of jobs for art journalism. It will take some time to catch up.

This quote from the post is telling.


"What we're looking for, therefore, is not so much a commercial business plan but some indications of long-term operational viability. The submissions are clarification that we still have some way to go to establish viable sustainable business models. Yet there are glimmers, and a number of projects have now sustained themselves for several years."



I agree with the comments made by Mike Jones earlier in this comment thread, but recognize he is thinking well ahead of the group here. But I'm torn. Do we really think there can be a commercial business in digital art journalism? Will there be enough eyeballs and clicks? I think so.

I truly believe it will be the freelancers, individuals with passion and the digital athletics, that have the greatest potential to succeed here. It will require partnerships with museums, galleries, sponsors, civil governments and a social media platform technology that will be the catalyst for this shift to the new art journalism world order. The technology to make this happen exists today. The ideas will however have to be monetized and run like a business in order to get those parties interested and leaning in at the table.

Art is forever. Let's keep it that way.

Steve
Jul 02, 2010
 Internet Business Basics...
by: Mike Jones

I spent some time reviewing the excellent presentations on NAJP. The projects are all fascinating and the people behind them are innovators and deserve recognition.

The projects all appear to be focused on developing highly functional, multi-media rich experiences for their readers and users. They realize that the old ink-on-paper model that has worked for so many decades and centuries is rapidly becoming outdated.

Social media is a constant theme in the presentations. Social media enables people to stay connected with the things that they care about. Social media can cause and influence the viral spread of news and events. This can work for or against an enterprise, entity, project or cause.

The ‘democratization’ of art, music and news is touched upon in all the presentations. People are now getting to choose what information they want delivered to their desktops and iPhones – not the editor or publisher. Social media plays a big role in this democratization.

The NAJP projects go way beyond simple one-way static pages to become platforms and venues for communities where people connect and share common interests. Consistent, quality information will be rewarded with loyal readers, participants and ultimately consumers.

I have nothing but praise for the organizers of the summit. However I believe that the question of ‘sustainability’ of art journalism projects is still left largely unanswered.

How can an individual journalist or small business entrepreneur sustain their efforts in this new age of journalism?

None of the projects really spoke on the subject of what many Internet Marketers know about building Internet-based business. If you can build a large community of like-minded people in a niche-topic that trust and respect the publisher/author/moderator of the venue (website) then you can ultimately ‘monetize’ that community through advertising, permission marketing, referrals, product sales, affiliate marketing, etc.

Although great emphasis was placed upon the ‘flash’ and functionality of the projects, I was surprised that there was no mention of market research. Today, Internet Marketers do market research by performing keyword analysis. Supply and demand can be accurately accessed with commonly available tools.

The page views that a journalist gets will ultimately be determined by the supply and demand of the keyword topic. Google determines relevance by the words that are on the page not by the amount of ‘flash’. Trust, respect and relationship are built by the author(s) over time by providing quality content. Google determines quality by looking at inbound links. Every link to a site is considered a ‘vote’ for that site’s popularity.

So in conclusion, while I very much enjoyed learning more about multi-media and visually rich website venues, I think the industry could also benefit by discussing some of the Internet business basics I’ve mentioned above.

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"As an art journalist, I am privileged to enter a world that resonates with color, light, form, texture and the often-intense emotions of artists as translated onto canvas, photo paper, wood, clay or any material."

Liz Goldner
Art Journalist


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