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Jennifer Dunning to leave the NY Times


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According to an article that focused on Bernard Holland's retirement, Jennifer Dunning is one of 85 writers who have accepted a buyout from the New York Times. This is not surprising since really she should have had the lead dance critic position upon the retirement of Anna Kisselgoff. That leaves Macauley in the lone dance critic spot with freelancers backing him up...

http://www.musicalamerica.com/news/newssto...9&cookies=1

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The title of the article linked by FauxPas:

Downsizing at The New York Times has hit the culture department.

I've read so many reviews by Dunning but don't really have a strong impression of her tastes or writing style. When we were discussing possible names for the lead NY Times dance position quite a while again many names came up, but I can't recall whether Dunning's was one of them.

All cultural downsizing is bad news. What is there about Dunning's viewpoint and writing will be most missed?

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All cultural downsizing is bad news.

Especially when it even occurs in NYC. I'm really sorry to hear Ms. Dunning will be leaving.

I'm sorry to hear about the downsizing; I won't, however, miss Dunning. Like Helene, though, it does make me feel old too! I find Dunning's writing rather bland, and the work she carries out to contextualize dances in her reviews does not impress me the way it does with other NYT critics. Unlike Macaulay and even Kisselgoff at times, I don't often get a sense of the rich viewing history Dunning must carry after all of her dancegoing years.

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According to an article that focused on Bernard Holland's retirement, Jennifer Dunning is one of 85 writers who have accepted a buyout from the New York Times. This is not surprising since really she should have had the lead dance critic position upon the retirement of Anna Kisselgoff.

You seem to imply that Dunning was passed over as the lead critic. I don't think we know that that was the case.

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I’m sorry to hear this news (thank you for posting it, FauxPas) and I will miss seeing Dunning’s byline. I don’t remember that she was up for the top job, either, although there was beefing at the time about a man being chosen for the job with all the eligible women available. We don’t know the background – maybe it was a good offer and Dunning was ready to go – but buyouts are never good news.

At least Macaulay isn’t going anywhere and his replacement of Rockwell seems like a vote of confidence in dance. And I would think that if the paper can support two regular classical music writers it could support two regular dance critics. However, the freelancers appear regularly and even report from abroad, so we must be grateful for what we have.

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I too was disheartened by the paper buying out Dunning's contract. But I am also concerned by the loss of the assignment editor. As a freelance writer, in a town where most dance writing is done by freelancers, I know that a large chunk of my time is taken up by "pitching" work to my editor -- convicing the paper that an event is worth covering. With a dance and classical music specific assignments person gone, decisions about coverage might be made by someone less informed about the beat.

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With a dance and classical music specific assignments person gone, decisions about coverage might be made by someone less informed about the beat.
This could have effects that are subtle (at first) and gradual. As residents of smaller cities know, the less obvious and more specialized assignments are the first to disappear. Also vulnerable are the distinctions between serious artistic endeavors and more popular, commercial projects. This may not affect the NYCBs, ABTs, or Kirovs, but one of the effects seems to be a reduction of space for smaller companies and esoteric works.

Worst case scenario: Nutcracker performances covered by a Kitchen Products (or Food) specialist, Leaves are Fading by the garden guy, Slaughter on Tenth Avenue by the crime desk, Jewels by a high-end shopping blogger from Style and Fashion.

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