Breaking: CBS News has appointed a cultural correspondent and it's W…

Breaking: CBS News has appointed a cultural correspondent and it's W…

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norman lebrecht

December 15, 2011

A change of tune at the top of US broadcast media. After decades of no interest in cultural affairs, CBS News has appointed a correspondent.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that it’s not a journalist, someone trained to sift hype from reality.

It’s a musician. A jazz performer and impresario.

It’s Wynton Marsalis.

More here.

Comments

  • Ariel says:

    Now that’s one big joke – the second is CBS and cultural affairs – name another country where this farce would be
    played out .

  • Michael P Scott says:

    Norman,

    Mark down January 2013 on your calendar and let’s check back with how well Wynton has done in his first year. If he can bring 1/10th of the magic of his radio series about music to his new CBS duties, I’ll bet you’ll be singing a more optimistic tune than today’s post implies.

    He grew up in the family of a N’Awlins’ jazz pianist…I doubt he’ll be buffaloed by anybody’s hype.

    But, it’s American TV, so don’t expect William A. Henry III, Virgil Thomson or, I’m just sayin’, Norman Lebrecht. But I’ll bet he turns out to be worthy company.

    MPS

  • Paul Ricchi says:

    Are we saying that the talking heads at the CBS anchor desk are “journalists” and trained to sift hype from reality? I am not sure about that.

    Marsalis does not need to be trained, as working musician at the highest level, he know hype from reality.

  • Boyce Lancaster says:

    This automatic negative reaction is typical of those who write about culture and the arts. This is the very reason that, for most, classical music is not on their radar. There was a time when the networks were where the vast majority of us heard about music such as this. (NBC commissioned Menotti’s opera Amahl and the Night Visitors in 1951 for performance on television.) How can we ask those whose experience and taste runs to the music of the day to give classical or jazz music a “test drive” if we are not willing to take a few steps in their direction? No one starts with Mahler, Stravinsky, or Ives, any more than a two-year-old starts with brussels sprouts caviar.

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