Dance critic Tobi Tobias has announced that her work will no longer appear in Bloomberg News. This comes from Sasha Anawalt on the National Arts Journalism Program blog:
"An email written by Tobi Tobias just ping-ed into my in-box, announcing that she and all other arts freelancers have been let go from Bloomberg News. Will we get used to this decimation of critics? What are we supposed to do? Tobias doesn't think we ought to take it no more ..."
Can the beleagured, even decimated critical voices garner a call to action? Does anyone out there care that within barely a year, nearly a dozen dance critics have lost their full-time, contract or freelance positions? I once relied on the collegeality of my fellow critics, particularly at gatherings of the once-productive Dance Critics Association. Where are the shocked, dismayed and disgruntled voices? Apparantly anyone remaining in the field is working for free and publishing on blogs, if they haven't given up altogether. I just queried an out-of-town weekly on a story. The editor replied that I was "invited" to submit my work in order to increase my exposure and the exposure of the artist, but the paper would not pay me. Is this the future of arts journalism and dance writing? I've been at this 25 years come the fall.
Comments