NY Times wilfully distorts London concert situation

The paper has been accused repeatedly in recent months of negative reporting from the UK. Its latest dispatch on the cancellation of a new concert hall is singularly prejudiced.

The best ‘independent’ quote it can find is from an artists’ agent, whose interests are scarcely the same as the public interest:

‘It’s a further confirmation of the parochialization of British music and the arts,’ said Jasper Parrott, a co-founder of HarrisonParrott, a classical music agency, in a telephone interview. The mood among musicians was low, Parrott said, especially because of changes to the rules governing European tours that came about because of Brexit. 

Oh, really.

The mood among musicians I spoke to outside London was one of widespread satisfaction at the adjustment of a looming imbalance in the nation’s music provision. Within London there was a mood of relief that the wrong hall in the wrong place at the wrong time was not going to be built, and a billion pounds was not about to be wasted. All in all, a good decision.

Just don’t go to the NY Times for balanced reporting of Britain. Or to an agent for an unbiased view.

Read Fiona Maddocks in the Obs for a balanced and informed view.