Idolator on my Ann Powers/American Idol rebuttal
July 31st, 2008 by Wade Tatangelo in Self-indulgent musings, Trends
OK, I’m going to milk this Ann Powers/American Idol debate for all I can, and then maybe even some more. Quick recap: It started with my July 27 post “Debating Ann Powers, poptimism and American Idol.” The Toronto Globe and Mail’s music critic commented, prompting “Response to American Idol post.”
My pal at the St. Petersburg Times‘ couldn’t resist the bait and that led to “Sean Daly writing about me writing about him.” The latest reason for me to continue writing about myself comes courtesy of Idolator:
Powers’ talk about covering American Idol prompted Wade Tatangelo of Tampa’s Creative Loafing to point out the monetary aspects of such coverage:
Ann Powers wrote a fine essay . . . But she failed to mention that a potential reason daily music critics like the St. Petersburg Times’ Sean Daly are covering cheap reality TV like American Idol (Powers does, too, but more likely by choice, see below) is because they are no longer in a position to tell populist/desperate editors “no.” Arts critics are being laid off at even a faster clip than reporters. In fact, there’s not a single music critic job opening at a daily newspaper in the entire nation. I know critics rank right alongside lawyers in the receiving of sympathy department, but it’s grim folks.
Carl Wilson of the Toronto Globe and Mail and the blog Zoilus weighed in on both Powers’ piece and Tatangelo’s reply:
Idolator concludes its post with a comment with which I’m totally in agreement:
Still, the most salient point of all may be from Marc Hogan’s Tumblr, in which the freelancer (best known for his contributions to Pitchfork) spells it out even more plainly:
As anyone who knows anyone who has blogged about “American Idol” knows, you get more clicks blogging about “American Idol” than blogging about Steinski, Harvey Milk, or Fleet Foxes. So it’s not as if the turning tide toward “poptimism” among critics who want to be paid for our work is entirely un-self-interested.
Here’s the entire Idolator post.
Send to a friend:
July 31st, 2008 at 1:31 pm
You should totally frame this and hand it on the walls of your cubicle, between your has been Greg Allman piece and the Kate Perry email from her publicist to meet you back stage at Warped Tour.
Better yet, you should just Google your name and frame that instead. That should at least temporary overcompensate all of your personal (and professional) shortcomings.
July 31st, 2008 at 5:02 pm
Joey: You sound so jealous.
July 31st, 2008 at 6:46 pm
Wade just learned that the blogosphere starts a link chain.
July 31st, 2008 at 7:36 pm
Hussey: Like I said, I’m milking it … in between working on, y’know, actual stories.