Our researcher Fleur takes a ruler to her local library for a week to take measure of arts coverage in the Nationals today.
Trying to lay your hands on every weekday copy of the five major broadsheets; The Times, The Financial Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian, and The Independent, is not as easy as you might think. For instance, you have to contend with your local library; well-stocked, yes, and accessible. But also filled with discerning individuals who seem to have exactly the same intentions as yourself. Before you can even reach the newspaper shelf everything has been whipped away and you are left standing with a rather battered copy of The Friday Ad. Ten minutes later a Times reader stands, infinitely slowly it seems, and shuffles away, giving you your first chance. Soon the determined researcher develops a strategy of grabbing any papers in sight as soon as they are abandoned, whilst keeping an eye on potential competition. Needless to say, the arts pages of the major national newspapers reach a wide and highly diverse audience; from those who have popped by with their groceries to get a preview of Eastenders in the ‘Television Listings’, to professional artists, photographers, and musicians. So how do the nationals deal with this diversity, and more importantly, what do they offer to keep us reading?
It is important to point out that major national and international art news stories do not appear particularly frequently. But when they do, where do the newspapers choose to print them? Are they making headlines or tucked away in brief? During my research I certainly came across some prominent arts news, such as The Times’ coverage of a war artist’s residency in Afghanistan, or The Daily Telegraph’s piece on David Cameron’s first official portrait as Tory leader. But the arts also deserve coverage as of themselves, without allowing current political issues to steal the limelight. Thankfully the broadsheets do not disappoint. Exhibitions, concerts, operas, gigs; these can all be found regularly amongst the arts coverage of the nationals. But there are also exciting features, supplements, and opinion pieces, which offer new perspectives on the reviews and listings that we might expect.
Naturally, all five of the major national newspapers feature reviews on their arts pages, often covering a wide range of visual and performing arts. The Daily Telegraph and The Financial Times have straightforward sets of arts pages with reviews, but the other nationals have found ways to make the review more interesting.
The Times, for instance, has a ‘First Night’ feature to be found both in the paper’s arts pages and in the daily ‘T2’ supplement. As the title suggests, a recently opened play, opera, concert or exhibition is reviewed to give the reader plenty of time to book ahead. The Independent also makes it easy for the reader with its daily ‘FIVEBEST’ feature, which covers films, plays, exhibitions, and concerts in brief with star ratings, and The Guardian has a ‘Critics’ Pick’ feature covering similar ground. In fact The Times actually takes this idea even further with ‘The Daily Universal Register’ feature, which asks readers to recommend a variety of current arts events. This interactive method lets the public decide for themselves as well as showing what events are genuinely popular. At the beginning of the week The Guardian’s ‘G2’ supplement has an ‘Arts the Week Ahead’ summary, which, like ‘First Night’ offers a preview of exciting new events. ‘G2’s ‘Review of Reviews’ feature sums up what all the nationals are saying about arts events so that readers can make up their own minds.
But it is all very well being told someone else’s opinion on the arts, the reader also wants the artists themselves to do the explaining. Thankfully the nationals also satisfy on this account. Not only do they manage to cram many interview features into their Friday and weekend supplements, but they also appear on weekdays too. The Independent, The Times, and _The Guardian_are particularly good at this, partly because their weekday supplements, ‘Independent Life’, ‘T2’, and ‘G2’ respectively, give up a substantial amount of space to the arts. Monday’s ‘T2’ satisfies with its ‘Story Behind the Picture’ feature, which allows a photographer to explain his or her work, and on Tuesdays ‘G2’s ‘Digested Read’ lets a chef talk about his or her latest publication. In fact Tuesday’s ‘G2’ wins again with its ‘Portrait of the Artist’ feature, whilst interviewer Hannah Pool’s ‘Question Time’ on Thursdays presents another opportunity to hear from familiar and lesser-known artists. All the nationals also, of course, feature one-off interviews with major actors, musicians and directors, but I was encouraged to see that time was also devoted to those behind the scenes such as theatre managers and choreographers.
I was also surprised to find that the nationals devoted time to the financial side of the arts. The Daily Telegraph dedicates an entire page on Tuesdays to its ‘Art Sales’ and ‘Market News’ features, whilst ‘T2’s Thursday ‘Buy Me’ feature details nationally important artworks currently for sale. The Financial Times, ironically, has no such weekday feature. Nevertheless it is interesting to see that the nationals are approaching the arts from a variety of different angles and presenting their coverage within the main body of the paper rather than just on the ‘Arts’ pages. This is well demonstrated by _The Guardian’s_arresting ‘Eyewitness’ daily feature, which is simply a double-page photograph representing either a global current issue, or an interesting and unexpected viewpoint. Not only does this act as a showcase for a photographer’s work but it also makes a powerful statement about the ability of art to teach the average person about a world they may not otherwise have seen.
Despite the nationals’ many interesting weekly arts features, it is on Fridays that coverage really comes into its own. I lost count of how many weekly interviews, reviews and comments were to be found in The Independent’s ‘Arts & Books’, The Times’ ‘Film & Music’, and The Guardian’s ‘Film & Music’ supplements. Although it does not provide a supplement, The Daily Telegraph also gets in on the game, with its ‘Music on Thursday’ and ‘Film on Friday’ pages. At the end of the week the supplements provide a space for comment and debate, including of course, weekly columns, such as The Independent’s ‘Tom Sutcliffe: The Week in Culture’. But the supplements are also a space for more obscure forms of music. The Guardian’s ‘Film & Music’ supplement, for instance, features a page for ‘Jazz, World & Folk’ reviews as well as its separate mainstream ‘Rock & Pop’ page.
So after a week in the library with the national newspapers I was surprised at the extent of the arts coverage. The Financial Times, as you might expect, and The Daily Telegraph stick to reviews on their arts pages, but The Times, The Independent, and The Guardian definitely go the extra mile and deliver some truly interesting and exciting features.
You will find details of all the sections, supplements and critics mentioned in the arts media contacts directory
