in size, paper quality, local stories which no longer look so local, and now a talented writer!Mike has been the performing arts writer since at least 1972 when I first moved to Lansing. He wrote about my shows and everyone else's. He reviewed them all; some we liked others we didn't. We may not have always agreed with him, we might not have always gotten the coverage we hoped for but he covered everyone! He wrote thousands of preview articles for us all. Not just theatre but art, music and of course, TV. He wrote about my wedding and even put it on the from page of the What's On section. He has hosted the Journal's Thespies Awards for just as long as I can remember. He will be missed.
All of us in the arts will feel the impact. It's not the ads that bring people into our venues but the human interest stories told about our events. It's the hook that makes people want to come to theatre, or attend a dance concert, or go to the symphony.
Please take a moment to write the Lansing State Journal and tell them what Mike meant to your organization.
1 comment:
AMEN. I am so angry about this I can hardly talk about it. He was the best and so supportive of local arts. I don't know WHAT they were thinking about when they took away one of the stars that made a community paper actually reflect the community (vs. news service articles). This is a great post.
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