How Often Does This Happen?
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NEXT »: When Arts News Is Hard News
artful thieves
I read the Boston Globe art-heist story with great interest and thanks, Laura, for posting it. But is this really an example of arts news making the front page? Or is it a really good crime (and forensic-science) story by a really good investigative reporter that happens to take place in an art museum. I mean it's a great story, well told, and I don't want to dampen either the fun or the serious business of it (those paintings are important and worth a lot of money). But let's say a survey was done of how often arts coverage made it to the front page of a major daily? Would you want this one counted? When I was reporting in New Orleans, I noticed that when a trombonist got arrested during a parade, he rated coverage. Same musician, leading a parade to his CD release party at a local club? Not news. I'm not trying to twist editorial logic: The news section is for news, the front page for big or truly fascinating news. But arts news is about arts, right?
That's a good point, Larry. In a decade and a half at the Globe, I had many stories on Page One, and many of them were genuine pieces about art. I am grateful for that and for some editors who fought for good play. But the only time I had a lead piece, top of the fold, right-hand column, was when the Supreme Court upheld the NEA's "decency clause." That wasn't about the arts, it was about the culture wars and politics. Art itself is rarely above the fold.