Friday, February 25, 2011

Budget cuts force changes in my newspaper columns

I have bad news for readers of my theater reviews. The Olympian and The News Tribune are having to severely cut their features budget, and as a result I will not be doing as many theater reviews. Effective March 1st my reviews will not run in The Olympian, and they will be published in The News Tribune only three times a month instead of once a week.

I feel especially bad for Olympia area theaters, fringe theaters and the smaller theaters in outlying areas because they are the ones that will probably be affected most. When possible I will review shows for my blog that I can't review for TNT, but that will be limited also because I don't get paid for reviewing shows for my own blog and can't afford to travel when I'm not getting paid.

If you want to make sure you don't miss any of my reviews, I suggest subscribing to my blog and please tell your friends to do the same. If you subscribe you will get every post to this blog as an email sent directly to your in box. The reviews will usually show up in your in box on the day after they are published in the newspaper.

Believe me, this cut is certainly not my choice. If I had my way I'd review more plays not fewer.

When the Tribune first hired me to do reviews it was an every-other-week column. After a couple of years it was extended to every week, and after a couple more years The Olympian picked up my reviews of Olympia shows.

I consider myself lucky to have been able to do as much as I have. I am extremely grateful to these newspapers for giving me the best job in the world, and to the South Sound theater community for treating me so well (even when the reviews were less than flattering).

I will still write art reviews and features for the Weekly Volcano.

1 comment:

lindargeorge said...

This is a sad day. :(