Reporting the Arts
By Monica L. Williams

Public interest in cultural activities is burgeoning. At the same time, arts coverage in the U.S. media is lagging.

“We’re trying to send more and more arts down the same pipeline,” said Andras Szanto, co-editor of Reporting the Arts II: News Coverage of Arts and Culture in America. “The years ahead are going to be fascinating.”

Reporting the Arts II tracked how newspapers in 10 U.S. cities — as well as three national papers, a national wire service and network television — covered the arts. The findings offer a comparison with a similar study conducted five years earlier by the National Arts Journalism Program, when it initially set out to gauge the health of arts coverage.

NAJP, based at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, released the study at the American Association of Sunday and Features Editors’ 58th annual conference in New Orleans.

Study co-editors Daniel Levy, Andrew Tyndall and NAJP director Szanto attended the conference to add context to the report.

Highlights of their findings:

• No metropolitan daily in the report increased its news hole for arts journalism.
• The news hole for arts coverage has shrunk significantly _ but when compared with a shrinking news hole in general, arts sections have gained ground.
• Real estate for the beloved TV grids has remained steady.
• Every newspaper reduced coverage of television and movies.
• In the age of cutbacks, local is where it’s at.
• Listings are gradually moving online.
• Staffing for arts departments remains steady. In fact, many newspapers are struggling valiantly to keep their arts staff in place. And a larger number of stories are being assigned to freelancers.

Szanto noted an increase in specialty weekend sections. He also said that arts coverage is the future of newspapers, and that positive change is on its way.

But, he added, “Absent that change, newspapers are going to be hurting.”

For a copy of the report, go to www.najp.org or call (212) 854-2549.

Monica L. Williams is a copy editor at The Boston Globe Magazine and a 2004 AASFE fellow.