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| by joe martin (paperdrums) | |
Joe writes:
Hey all.
I was kind of wondering what you were thinking when you published that
"Triangle Fraternity + Indie Rock + Charity = ???" article. The article
starts off normally enough: The authors criticized "close-minded" people
(most of which, I'm sure, were at Interpol that night), gave a run-down of
what the benefit was all about, and so on. However, the short synopses of
bands at the bottom was ludicrously critical and completely off the point.
For some reason, "I don't know much about this type of music, but [insert
critical comment here]" doesn't sit well with me. I feel bad for Swizzle
Tree, Lorenzo Geotz, Katie and the Concrete Cowboys, the Invisible, and all
the other bands that got slapped with adjectives like "irate" and "mediocre."
Ripping on local bands in a public forum, especially one that is read as
widely as OpeningBands.com, is an invariably pointless and mean-spirited
endeavor. I find it amazing that an editor who gives me as much shit as Steve
does for criticizing bands allowed that to be printed in his online e-zine.
What the fuck?
Sincerely,
Joe Martin
Editor's response:
Dear Joe,
Well, Joe - let me first start out by saying that you're right on two counts: I do give people (you included) shit for ripping on bands on our forums, and the criticisms of the band were probably not appropriate where they were put.
We actually discussed the issue at the meeting, and as an editor, I caved and left things the way they were. I found it to be rather disjoint, with no flow between the "article" part, and the "review" part. As to the appropriateness of some of the criticism - it was certainly not right to put it in a feature article. I would argue, however, that in a review, it would be entirely okay. That's what reviews are.
It's worth noting that no matter what the case, I would not have suppressed what Cassie wrote. I do not believe in censorship except in extreme cases where we need to adhere to laws - i.e. we will not have pornography on our site since we do not want to have to restrict our viewership to those 18 and older. I should have posted Cassie's wrap-up in the reviews section - plain and simple.
It's also worth noting that after your letter came so quickly, I actually considered separating the article in two after it had already been published. I decided, however, that it would be "cheap" to go and cover up a mistake I made. Instead, I waited until the next issue came out to respond to your letter and illustrate the fact that we're a publication of integrity - and that means if we do screw up - we'll own up to it and apologize.
So, to the readers of OpeningBands - I'm sorry for my mishandling of the editing job. In the future, we'll try and keep opinion further away from our feature articles.
Steve - your humbled editor.
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| by erin halloran (ehallora) | |
Erin writes:
Hello Editor,
I wanted to let you know that the review by Steve Halloran of Everybody Uh Oh - Man am I Brad made me want to go out and buy the CD. Well not really. It made me miss the Pumpkins more. But, it did make me want to donate $5 to your website. So, I did. How cool am I? I do have a complaint though - when mentioning his love for Pearl Jam in his bio, he does not mention his sister. His sister and Pearl Jam go hand and hand. Remind him.
$10 more if I get published!
Steve's sister,
Erin
Editor's reply:
Dear Erin,
First of all - thank you for your donation. We appreciate it. We really thrive on the support, both moral and economic, of our readers. If anyone else is interested in donating, please see the cover page for information (scroll down, look right).
Secondly - an open call to readers - if you are going to donate $10 for us to publish your letter, please do let us know. We'll most certainly publish it!!! ;-)
As for him not mentioning Pearl Jam without mentioning you - have no fear. We at OpeningBands have a strict system of reprimand for screwups like this. You hear that Steve H.? It's back to the sweatshop for you!
Steve - Your goofy-ass editor.
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