Is News Now A Charity?

Can't say I was entirely surprised, but two recent stories about the health of major newspapers really hit home. The Tribune Company, owner of the Chicago Tribune, LA Times and several other major papers has filed for bankruptcy after piling on debt last year to go private. The NY Times is mortgaging it's new headquarters to head off a cash crunch and Several other major papers have suspended debt payments.

One force at work is clearly the credit crisis, but the other is the continuing slide in industry fundamentals. We seee less and less cultural coverage in most papers. Bloggers can fill a lot of this as new informal networks emerge but we all must admit that a lot of us rely on links to news articles.

What new networks and media empires are emerging? Several great networks of blogs like The Implode-ometer have done the hard grunt work in covering the financial crisis. ArtCal, The James Kalm Report and Culture Pundits might be the be the new trend in arts coverage. I'm also very excited by the new Streetsblog Network aimed at linking bloggers who write about urban design and transit issues.

One big problem is that these networks rely much more on an ever changing pool of grass roots writers, most of whom are not well known. The old formal model of issuing media passes and sending press releases to a small group of approved elite is breaking down. The Carnegie was nice enough to offer all our contributors media passes this year but what about the potential new bloggers and those not on the radar and those in other cities and countries?

Anyway, I will end this with a pitch for more people to contribute content to this blog and help expand arts coverage in Pittsburgh.

Posts On The Metroblog On The Power Of Blogging

I put up two posts on the Pittsburgh Metroblog on the emerging power of blogging. It's not a medium that has come close to using all it's potential.

Post One

Post Two

For the time being it kind of looks like I have taken over the Pittsburgh Metroblog.

The NY Art Book Fair

One of the best things I ran into in NY was the first NY Art Book Fair which was held in DIA's old Chelsea space and was totally free. I ended up there on Saturday while trying to jam in all kinds of other stuff, including a trip to the open studios at Hunter. Several other bloggers, like AFC and Barry and James have done wonderfull detailed posts on the fair. Most, like me really apreciated the mix of high end booksellers, non profits and all kinds of facinating DYI print projects and alternative press.

Here is a long quote from AFC.

"In a city where you have to pay to sit down, it is refreshing to attend an art fair that offers a few free goodies you might actually want. Pet Book, by artist James Sprez, (and published by Back East Press) is one of many such items that can be found at The New York Art Book Fair, this one packaged in a baggies that encourages attendees to smoke it. It may be that the plastic sleeves on books ranging from free to hundreds and sometimes thousands of dollars, make a book seem so precious and alluring that I am rendered blindingly smitten, but I feel safe in saying that it is more than just packaging that has led me to the conclusion that of all the fairs I have attended this year, including The ADAA, The Armory, Scope, Pulse, and The Affordable Art Fair, The New York Art Book Fair is the best. The NY Art Book Fair succeeds because it satisfies the art snob and the art collector while providing a venue for less commercially driven endeavors. "

Another nice thing was that several galleries seemed to have arainged book related shows that connected well with the Fair. The two that I ran into that really worked were, the Dieter Roth show at Josee Bienvenu and Brian Chippendale's installation at D'Amellio Terras, just down the block from the fair.

Shots From Blogger Show In Brooklyn

Here's some shots from the opening of that show in Brooklyn from the blog of one of the curator's James Wagner. I am sure he will be posting more images and updates.

Bloggers Curate Show In Brooklyn

I wish very much that I could make this opening. The two people who curated this show are the kind of glue that hold real artistic comunities together. They have been blogging long before a dumb person like me could do it and consistantly finding and supporting, often unknown artist's. The chances that this show is not worth seeing are less than zero.

the show opens tonight.Here's the dope from James Wagner's blog.

"Dangling Between The Real Thing And The Sign In The Window" finally opens on Friday [see the link to the left for the press release]. I expect so many gazillions of creative, smart, cute people to head for Dam, Stuhltrager that night that Barry and I will have to retreat to the garden for some air, where Susan Dessel's installation will remain through the run of the show inside. Loren Munk's work will be installed in the front room during the same month. If you can't make it on Friday, please stop in later in the weekend, or on any of the next four. The show closes on the 13th of November. After the opening reception the gallery will be open on Fridays from 3 until 8 and Saturdays and Sundays from noon until 6. You can also make an appointment.