Even for those professionally despondent about the future of arts journalism, this wasn't supposed to happen. Newspapers have been shedding the number of arts staffers in their ranks (or sometimes replacing them with well-known writers inexperienced on their new beats) for quite some years. But the web and more specifically (and lucratively) news agencies had become a haven, a last stand for some of the best arts writers who were having difficulty making ends meet in the reduced circumstances in which newspapers left them. But now, with the closing of Bloomberg's arts division, Muse, the game has changed again.
Muse had built an enviable international reputation for its arts coverage. It was the company, perhaps above all, that was responsible for enhancing the image of arts journalism among the agencies (in the old days, the Associated Press or Reuters were seen as a definite step down in the business from, say, the Boston Globe or the Guardian, whereas now that's not really the case). And at a time when the involvement of businesses in the arts is as pervasive as it has ever been, the business case for spending on arts journalism should not have been so difficult to make.
And yet...apocalypse. Or nearly. Editor-in-chief Matt Winkler sent a memo to staff last week in which he announced the closing of the Muse brand and the scaling back of arts coverage. So, arts will now be relegated to its "luxury" channel and to its high-end Pursuits magazine. In other words, for Bloomberg, the arts are now officially elitist, and not in a good way.
Widely-respected Muse editor Manuela Hoelterhoff is expected to stay with Bloomberg but will have some of her duties changed. Among jobs to be shed, theater critic Jeremy Gerard is a casualty. As is arts journalism in general.
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