The Future of Arts Journalism

The Future of Arts Journalism.

WTF are we going to do?

by Kinsee Morlan, arts editor @ San Diego CityBeat

Journalism has officially changed.

Cost of paper is

up

Ad revenue is down

“The End is Over” by San Diego artist Mike Maxwell

Papers have closed or cut down

Arts coverage is one of the

first things to go

Arts coverage is slowly migrating online

“The Same Slow Race” by San Diego artist Bret J. Barrett

It’s a good thing — Multimedia, faster, more and hyper-local

What form is online arts coverage taking?

And the winners are…

USC Annenberg School for Communications | http://najp.org/summit/


Glasstire — a nonprofit website dedicated to covering the arts in Texas.


FLYP — A NYC-based multimedia online magazine that covers arts, science and entertainment. Supported by private investors and starting to monetize through rich-

media advertising.


San Francisco Classical Voice — A nonprofit website covering classical music in the Bay Area


KCET’s Departure’s Project — An online public-radio project that uses multimedia and is supported by both ads and donations.


Fecal Face — A blog-style website covering the art scene in San Francisco. Mostly ad Supported.


Sezio — A local nonprofit site dedicated to covering local art and music.


Art as Authority — A local blog covering the arts. Is volunteer-supported, doesn’t makemoney that I know of.


Art Rocks! — A local podcast covering the visual arts in San Diego.


Dark Vomit — A local tech-savvy artist who covers himself and the shows he helpsorganize through making video games and posting art online. Makes money by selling art.


San Diego CityBeat — I’m trying to do weekly art news posts that we don’t have room forin the print edition. Timely, informative, newsy (better for online).


San Diego CityBeat — I’m also trying to put together weekly slideshows/videos ofImages you can find in and around San Diego every week.


San Diego CityBeat — We will be starting a podcast and covering everything we cover in the paper and more.

How will we make money?


According to the 2009 Arts and Culture Economic and Community Impact Report, San Diego’s arts and culture entities brought in $181 million in direct expenditures, in part, by attracting 1.46 million

visitors to San Diego in 2009.

Maybe some of San Diego’s tourism dollars should go to covering the arts.


If the idea of journalists getting money from the government scares you, think of the BBC.

The Future of Arts Journalism.

A painting by Pamela Jaeger.

This is the difficult, awkward turning point, but the future isn’t as grim as some peoplethink. Ask long as there is art, there will be art journalism in some shape or form. And as

long as you value arts coverage, we can find a way to pay for it.

News & Politics

The Future of Arts Journalism