My over riding disagreement with The Dallas Morning News is their refusal to answer the tough questions. In this interview, I ask Al Brumley, some tough questions on about his coverage of radio.
1. Why doesn't your paper voice opposition to what you write?
A. Who says we don't? We frequently voice opposition to what I write. And I often discuss such criticism in my column. Also, critics of my work are free to write letters to the editor or guest columns for the op-ed page. In fact, I encourage them to do so.
2. Why don't you talk about these issues :
1. The Big 5 monopoly of music. (AOL/Warner, BMG, Vivendi, Sony, EMI)
First of all, we *have* written about this -- extensively. It amazes me when you accuse us of ignoring it. Either you don't read the newspaper, you read it selectively or you have a bad memory. Second, I don't cover music. And yes, music, is obviously a part of radio, but as we have things set up here that kind of coverage falls either to the music staff or our business section. My job is to keep up with the day-to-day goings-on at the 60-plus radio stations in this market, keep up with personnel and format changes, and write about trends and new developments such as satellite radio. I admit that I have found myself concentrating on the news/talk stations probably more than I should, and I'm trying to balance that with more coverage of the music stations. However, I have written extensively about radio consolidation and the changes -- both good and bad -- it has wrought. As a reporter, my task is to approach such topics without an agenda, and I try to do that as best I can. What that means, of course, is that people who expect me to rip radio conglomerates to shreds every time I write about them aren't always happy. Then I get labeled by some as a pro-business lackey who simply tears his copy from press releases, which couldn't be further from the truth. I try to look at issues from all sides. But I have criticized companies such as Clear Channel roundly for their behavior, and I will continue to do so when I feel it's warranted. I will also continue to praise them when I feel it's warranted. But I am not a music critic or a music reporter.
B. The new payola. I learned a lot from the Salon series on "the new payola," and I have made some inquiries into that in the Dallas-Fort Worth market. It's not a matter of ignoring the subject -- it's a matter of not having a magazine writer's luxury of time. I know that sounds like a lame excuse, but for a story of that magnitude I'll need to have my decks cleared for at least several weeks. Even Salon broke it up into a monthly series. I should also note that apart from writing about radio, I review DVDs, which doesn't sound like much but can be very time-consuming. But I'll fall on the grenade here and admit that payola is a topic I need to delve into more deeply. (ed. note - for the Salon articles see www.salon.com and search "payola")
C. The boycott of all local music on mainstream radio. I can't think of a time when radio *did* play local music. As a musician myself, I know how hard it is to get noticed, but I also know that I never expected local radio to come to my rescue. That's not the way it works, and as far as I know that's never been the way it's worked. On the other hand, I have noticed that Chaz is still working hard to push local bands on KYNG-FM (105.3), and that station's new midday show, Pugs & Kelly, is using local music as bumpers. I think that's great. Also, there's no argument that several local bands have hit it big. And let's not forget the World Wide Web, which gives musicians the opportunity for more visibility than they've ever had before. This is the one topic on which I just can't seem to find any common ground with you. Yes, we used to have Redbeard doing his local show, but as far as I know even that never led to anyone's getting signed (if I'm wrong here, I apologize). Not that it wasn't a great show, and not that I don't miss it, but again, I don't recall a time when anyone expected radio to concentrate on local music.
D. The opposition of musicians to this boycott.
Again, not to cop out or anything, but this wouldn't fall under my jurisdiction. Although, I suppose if a musician had ever called me to complain, it would. But that's never happened.
E. The refusal of the DMN to review local musicians.
There's no such thing. A quick search of our electronic library found many stories about, or reviews of, local bands, including Chomsky, Bowling for Soup, Vibrolux, the Adventures of Jet and the Deathray Davies. Could we be doing more? Absolutely. And sometimes I wish we were. But our staff is human and can only be stretched so far. Dallas is a huge music town, with big-name concerts playing almost nightly.
3. Why don't you support local musicians and local music?
I am a fan of local musicians, but it's not my job as radio critic to push the local music scene. As I said before, I've played in many bands in my life, and at one point early on I thought of giving it a go as a professional musician. But not once did I or anyone I played with expect local radio or print to pave the way for us. I honestly don't understand why you expect it.
(Ed. Note: "the paper is called The Dallas Morning News, not the Hollywood Morning News - Dallas Press Release Branch. The refusal of the paper to support it's local culture is similar to if The Dallas Morning Newstalked about every football team except the Cowboys)
For me, the bottom line to all of this is that you raise some good points - payola paramount on that list -- but I don't understand why you couch your questions in such a paranoid fashion. We're not out to get anyone. We're not out to intentionally hurt or ignore anyone. Obviously, there are many ways we could improve, and we're constantly asking ourselves how we could do that, but there is no grand conspiracy. We're not guided by our ad department; not once has an editor told me not to write about something because it might hurt circulation. But when you use words such as "refusal," and when you imply that we *never* do the things you want, well, those accusations simply aren't true. And that's as plain as the black-and-white copy with which I can refute them. Still, it's always a good thing for a newspaper to have readers questioning what we do and how we do it, although I'm sure my answers here have just added more fuel to your fire. So anyway, good luck with your music (I know you didn't like that article we ran on you recently, but still, I hope it helps), and I've enjoyed our discussions.- Al Brumley.
(ed. note: As a musician concerned with these issues, I just don't think they get adequate coverage in DMN. I encourage ;you to change that..Dallas, your paper, radio, and local musicians will all be better for it. - Tom Hendricks , ed. of Musea.)