By Kirstin Heinle
Student Writer
Two-dozen adults sat around a table, speaking to fellow group members in hushed tones, working hurriedly on their computer — clearly under an impending deadline. The room was reminiscent of nervous students frantically completing a final project to present to their instructor. In actuality, that wasn’t far from the truth.
Twenty-three arts journalists of varying ages and backgrounds were selected to participate as fellows in a 10-day National Endowment of the Arts Journalism Institute in Theater and Musical Theater from April 14-24. As part of the program, fellows were assigned the task of creating an interactive arts-focused Web site that incorporated video they shot themselves using flip cams. The catch? The fellows were given only one week to conceive, create and produce the entire project.
Leading and coaching the teams through this process was Douglas McLennan, editor and founder of ArtsJournalism.com. He stressed that he didn’t expect a slick, final project, but instead wanted to see the critical thought behind each idea.
“We are redefining the role of the critic,” said McLennan. “A critic used to be the one talking to the masses. Now the critic is in this other role…you are a leader of a community.”
The goal of each Web site was to review a particular arts topic while at the same time encourage participation and a sense of community among users. “It’s not just about getting information out there,” said McLennan. “It’s about collaboration.”
The project encouraged collaboration in more ways than one. When the journalists arrived nine days prior, they were strangers. In fact, many were current and former competitors in their field. The “Flip Cam Project” (as it came to be called) forced them to work together in intimate groups of three to four.
Sasha Anawalt, the director of the program, said it was interesting to watch the power shifts in each group as they began to flush out their ideas. In the end, each journalist brought something unique to the project, whether it was experience as a critic, creative ideas, or technical ability, she said.
The concepts varied greatly. One group created a site that analyzed “shock performance;” another site critiqued dance performances. (“Anyone can dance,” the site reads, “but not everyone can review dance.) One team in particular received enthusiastic responses from the rest of the group.
The blue group — composed of MiChelle Jones, Marcos Cabrera, Teresa Annas, Daphne Howland and John Kuebler — created a site called “Critical Mashup” (or “CritMash”) that asks users, “How you like your Criticism?” Users choose the review format they most prefer, be it through a video on YouTube, tweets on Twitter or the “CritMash Ol’ Skool Text Review,” a more traditional article.
The site even included a musical video review of the musical “Louis & Keely” performed by Teresa Annas, an arts writer at The Virginian Pilot in Norfolk, Virginia.
Jeff Weinstein, an author and columnist, called CritMash “zany” and “an editor’s dream.”
Throughout each presentation McLennan would spark conversation between the fellows asking questions such as, “How do you promote this to a wider audience?” He encouraged the group to use multimedia tools to enhance information rather than substitute it.
“These are arts journalists who presumably have a point of view, but sometimes it disappears when you give them these new tools. They become assemblers,” he said.
McLennan was pleased with the fellows’ work.
“They really kind of rose to the challenge,” he said. “I challenged the conventions of how they do their job.”
Over the course of the 10-day institute, fellows also attended nine different performances throughout Los Angeles including Louis & Keely: Live at the Sahara directed by Taylor Hackford at the Geffen Playhouse and Theresa Rebeck’s Mauritus directed by Jessica Kubzansky at the Pasadena Playhouse, in addition to attending writing workshops and master classes, plus a dance seminar taught by legendary Broadway choreographer and performer, Kay Cole.
More on NEA Institute
Video of a session
