Plog - Horsley Backed the Arts; Now the Arts Community Backs Horsley

Horsley Backed the Arts; Now the Arts Community Backs Horsley

Tue Jul 01, 2008 at 03:31:32 PM

By JEN CHEN

Nobody was a bigger backer of the symphony than Horsley.

The local arts community is still riled up about the firing of Paul Horsley, The Kansas City Star’s classical music critic. Horsley was part of the mid-June purge by the Star's parent company, McClatchy. Horsley's firing has inspired outrage and threats of canceled subscriptions.

Now comes a letter-writing campaign by Jeffrey J. Bentley, executive director of the Kansas City Ballet.

Bentley sent out an e-mail today that reads:

This decision is incredibly uninformed and short-sighted on the management team at McClatchy, who obviously do not understand the vibrancy and importance the arts community has here in our community, and diminishes the art forms of classical music and dance by not having a dedicated reporter covering that beat. As the Kansas City Ballet, Lyric Opera, and Kansas City Symphony anticipate performing in the new Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts in 2010, this decision is tantamount to the Royals making it to the World Series, only to have all the local baseball reporters fired from the sports department.

Bentley also includes this list of talking points:

All letters should be made very personal, and should not have the tone or feel of a form letter. When writing to The Star, be sure to focus on some combination of the following:
Whether you are a subscriber to the paper, and whether a lack of coverage of music and dance will impact your decision to renew your subscription to The Star;

How you use the arts coverage in the newspaper impacts your knowledge and support of Kansas City arts institutions;

How diverse the readership of arts coverage is -- It has been suggested that The Star believes that music and dance coverage is elitist content, and not applicable to a non-white, non-affluent audience -- nothing could be further from the truth;

The impact lack of coverage will have on emerging music and dance organizations, as well as the impact of the loss of coverage for the Ballet, Symphony, and Opera;

How freelancer writers lack the ability to see the "whole picture" of music and dance in the community, and how a more limited view is a disservice to readers;

How the arts in Kansas City contribute $279 million annually in economic impact to the region, and a lack of coverage will have a direct and dramatic economic impact.

Meanwhile, Horsley spoke to a writer at MusicalAmerica.com about getting canned:

I think it was a very ‘corporate’ decision,” said Horsley yesterday by telephone, in a surprisingly philosophical tone. “I think they eliminated the beat they thought they could most easily farm out.”