Music Critics' Letter to PD editor on Reassignment of Don Rosenberg
Letter of The Music Critics Association to Plain Dealer editor Susan Goldberg on the reasingment of music critic Don Roseberg:
October 21, 2008
Susan Goldberg,
editor
Cleveland Plain Dealer
Plain Dealer Plaza
1801 Superior Avenue East
Cleveland, Ohio 44114-21989
Dear Ms. Goldberg,
The decision to reassign our colleague, Don Rosenberg, and remove him from the duty of reviewing the Cleveland Orchestra has shocked the journalistic and music worlds. We wish to add our voices to what has become an international chorus of protest and concern. (Neither Mr. Rosenberg nor Zachary Lewis was consulted or involved in the preparation of this letter.)
Mindful of your authority as editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and your description of Mr. Rosenberg’s case as an internal personnel matter, we nonetheless must urge you to rescind your action. The silencing of a critic not only challenges the foundation of our particular profession, but weakens the foundation of journalism itself. It is not at all hyperbolic to see this case as a threat to a free and independent press.
We ask you to consider this theoretical scenario: A newspaper hires a commentator to give opinions about the local mayor and city council on a regular basis; the writer's work draws fire from the politicians and their supporters; the newspaper relieves the writer of his post. No self-respecting publication would ever do such a thing, but your treatment of Mr. Rosenberg has unavoidably put the Plain Dealer in this unflattering light.
There has been much speculation about pressure, overt or subtle, being exerted on you by forces outside the newsroom. We do not wish to add to that speculation, but many of us are certainly aware of what can happen in any community when some people find fault with a music critic. Whatever prompted your move, it has led to consequences that we cannot imagine you would have ever wanted.
In our view, a highly respected and qualified writer (who served for two terms as president of the Music Critics Association of North America) has been subjected to an unwarranted and unreasonable reassignment; a newspaper with a long history of service to its community has had its integrity and honesty questioned; and the free and unfettered public discussion that music criticism tries to foster has been unduly hampered.
We ask you to restore Mr. Rosenberg’s critical voice and the credibility of the Plain Dealer.
The following names include the board of directors of the Music Critics Association of North America and many of our members, as well as other music journalists from around the country who wished to join us in support of Don Rosenberg.
Dorothy Andries,
classical music critic, Pioneer Press (Glenview, IL)
Michael Anthony,
Opera Canada; Opera magazine; former music critic, Minneapolis Star Tribune
Margaret M.
Barela, American Record Guide
James Bash,
Opera magazine, The Columbian
Janet E. Bedell,
program annotator (Baltimore Symphony Orchestra)
*Martin
Bernheimer, Financial Times; Opera magazine; music critic, Los Angeles Times
(1965-1996)
Susan Brodie,
American Record Guide
Clarke Bustard,
Letter V: the Virginia Classical Music Blog
Scott Cantrell,
music critic, Dallas Morning News
Sedgwick Clark,
editor, Musical America International Directory of the Performing Arts
Robert Commanday,
music critic (retired) San Francisco Chronicle; Editor (retired) San Francisco
Classical Voice; former president, Music Critics Association of North America
|Robert Croan,
senior editor and former classical music critic, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Wynne Delacoma,
freelance; classical music critic, Chicago Sun-Times (1991-2006)
Roy C. Dicks,
contracted freelance classical music critic, Raleigh (NC) News & Observer
Andrew
Druckenbrod, music critic, Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Jeremy Eichler,
music critic, Boston Globe
Susan Elliott,
editor, MusicalAmerica.com
Mary Ann
Feldman, Minnesota Orchestra Showcase Magazine, Grand Teton Music Festival
Robert Finn,
music critic, Cleveland Plain Dealer (1964-1992)
John Fleming,
performing arts critic, St Petersburg Times
Richard Freed,
program annotator (National Symphony Orchestra)\
Gil French,
concert editor, American Record Guide\
Janos Gereben,
www.sfcv.org, San Francisco
Richard S.
Ginell, Los Angeles Times; American Record Guide
Peter Goodman,
assistant professor, Department of Journalism, Media Studies and Public
Relations, Hofstra University; former critic,Newsday, New York Newsday
Paul Hertelendy,
coordinator and critic of www.artssf.com; former music critic, San Jose Mercury
News
Paul Horsley,
former music critic, Kansas City Star
Michael Huebner,
Birmingham News
Barbara Jepson,
contributor, The Wall Street Journal "Leisure & Arts"
Leslie Kandell,
freelance
Mark Kanny,
classical music critic, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
Laura Kennelly,
arts columnist, Morning Journal (Lorain)
Marty Lash, Door
County Advocate\
Jens F. Laurson,
Classical Critic-at-Large, WETA-FM, Washington D.C.
George Loomis,
Financial Times; International Herald Tribune
Robert Markow,
Opera Magazine, Opera News, American Record Guide, program annotator (Montreal
Symphony)
Martin Mayer,
retired critic, Esquire Magazine (1951-1975); Opera Magazine (1984-2002)
Anne Midgette,
classical music critic, The Washington Post
Sarah Bryan
Miller, music critic, St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Frank J. Oteri,
editor, New Music Box
Tim Page,
University of Southern California; former classical music critic, Washington
Post\
James L Paulk,
contributor, Das Opernglas
Alvin H, Reiss,
editor, Arts Management
Louise Austin
Remmey, former contributor to Washington Post, Baltimore Sun
Alex Ross, music
critic, The New Yorker
Georgia Rowe,
former music critic, Contra Costa Times; Opera News, San Jose Mercury News, San
Francisco Examiner
Jason Victor
Serinus, Opera News, American Record Guide, Stereophile
Tim Smith, music
critic, Baltimore Sun
David Stabler,
classical music critic, The Oregonian
Elaine Strauss,
US 1 Newspaper (Princeton); Chamber Music; Clavier
Perry Tannenbaum,
American Record Guide; Creative Loafing (Charlotte, NC)
Richard Todd,
Ottawa Citizen
Anthony
Tommasini, chief classical music critic, The New York Times
Herman Trotter,
music critic emeritus, The Buffalo News; American Record Guide
J. J. Van
Vlasselaer, music critic, Le Droit (Ottawa)
John von Rhein,
music critic, Chicago Tribune
S. James Wegg,
managing editor, JWR (Canada)
David Wright,
freelance; former program annotator (New York Philharmonic)