As many people have probably noticed, the last couple of years have seen a dramatic reduction in most areas of their favorite LA Times section. With jazz’s declining popularity in today’s society, its coverage is no exception to these cutbacks.

Whether it is a financial reason, or one that relates directly toward this fall off in popularity, the LA Times has been cutting back on their jazz coverage for the past 6 months, and as of Nov. 1st, they have cut it out entirely – at least with the help of long-time reporter and afficionado Don Heckman.

While our sources indicate that it will only get worse before it gets better (if it ever gets better at all), many are wondering what will happen in the long run. Whether this is a permanent decision or not remains to be seen; however it is not going to get better unless the LA Times can, once again, justify their cost in people like Heckman.

(Don Heckman has been a free-lance jazz reporter for over 20 years with the paper).

From The Source:

A lot of what has been happening was recently explained by Heckman himself in an LA Tmes post, entitle, “Here, There and Everywhere: The Times” (Oct. 27th, 2008). In it, Heckman gives some of the details regarding the cutbacks and explains what has led up to the controversial decision.

Heckman first begins by explaining that the cutback on jazz coverage actually began about 7 or 8 years ago, when jazz was lumped into the “Pop Music” category. As this happened, funding of course declined, making room for the music tat was also thrown into this category. As a result, the coverage that Heckman was doing was cut by more than 50%, leaving only 2 our of 4 weekly reviews, one monthly record review instead of 4 or 5, and the discontinuation of his Friday jazz column all together. This was an immediate change and was non-negotiable.

As time went on, he began seeing the coverage drop even further. Several months ago, the monthly review – which was formerly a weekly review – was done away with, and the weekly reviews were cut back to about one every month. Finally a couple months ago brought about huge changes with the LA Times. Hiring a new director of “Pop Music,” of which jazz is a part, left Heckman having to pitch his ideas for coverage. In other words, he had to fight to see that every one of his news headlines was received for publishing (most of which were declined).

Budget cuts meant that he, as a free-lance writer, ran out of funding in August and will not have to wait until some time in January to post again. As it currently stands, he – and the rest of the people that open the paper to hear about jazz events – have been put on the shelf, and jazz coverage ceases to exist in the LA Times.

Opinions:

As jazz is quite important to such a flourishing city as Los Angeles, many people are left to ask why the paper would make such a ridiculous decision. The answer is, actually, quite simple. MONEY! The paper has been issuing cutbacks in many areas of its coverage for the past couple of years, and with the proliferation of alternative media sources (e.g. the internet), it has become harder and harder to justify their spending.

True, jazz is not the most important area that was found in the LA Times, but it was nonetheless the main source of information for a very large audience. For those that do not have computers (cannot afford them, do not understand them, are afraid of them) those that cannot afford internet access, or simply those who prefer reading the paper – because they have been using it as their main source of information for as long as they know – they now find themselves “out of the loop.”

And what is worse is that unless they happen to suddenly switch over to computers and the internet for their news, they will not have any idea what is going on with this recent change at the LA Times. Will this force them to look elsewhere?

And by the way, it is important to look at the jazz audience. With the progression of contemporary jazz, in all its forms, there are many different age groups to which jazz is being explored. Having said that, it might be relevant to look at those who have seen jazz as part of their lives. I cannot help but think that the paper is somehow leaving them behind. Maybe it is not as bad a picture as I am painting it, but I doubt that this was ever on the priority list of the LA Times.

Why Not Just Go Online?

Looking at this from a business and financial standpoint, it is easy to see that promotion via alternate sources like the internet is much cheaper. You still have to pay those to do the research and gather the material, but you no longer have to worry about the delivery of it – that is to your doorstep.

Additionally, internet news can be updated multiple times a day (compared with the paper that is most likely already old news by the time you get it at 5:30 in the morning. Efficiency and accuracy are, no doubt, the positives when comparing these two sources of media, but some say that there is just no replacement for the paper. It is what they know, and it is the main source of information for them. And by the way, this is not just from those who do not own computers – it is also from those who generally look toward their paper as their prime source and simply prefer it.

Is This A Trend For The Future? Will It Do Away With The Paper Entirely?

There are still many papers that are waiting to get up online as well. Since looking for jazz events generally involves looking in your local area, it is the readers of the smaller papers that are primarily affected. True, online posting is a whole lot cheaper (and efficient), but in my opinion, I do not see the newspaper disappearing – at least not in the next 10 years anyway.

A lot of people are already upset by this latest decision at the LA Times, and I think they should be; however keep in mind their perspective too. Before you get on your soapbox and give ‘em a piece of your mind, just keep in mind that you found this article online. Your source of news, at least for the moment, has not been interrupted. If you wish to voice your opinion about the decision of the LA Times, or about this article, we would love to hear your thoughts. Just remember to do so respectfully.

The original post was found on this page.

To Don Heckman, thanks for bringing us the reviews and reports for the last 20 years. I am hoping that we can continue to hear your suggestions and news online.

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