Recently a blogger appeared to be having quite the fun time bashing a review that could be read at Examiner.com. Anyone can apply to write for the place should there be an opening. I just nearly applied for the photography opening in Chandler … wherever that is! Fortunately I didn’t submit my “sample article” even while I thought it would have won me a spot. (Not really: I wrote about my mouth and how happy my teeth are in there. Yeah, I was just being silly. I decided not to submit it, even while I think they would have gotten quite the laugh over it. Too bad for you, Examiner.com!)
But seriously, I consider Examiner.com to be a bit of a “vanity press” in most instances. I hear it pays, but I believe it’s in pennies. So if someone writes a bad review in that particular rag, I honestly don’t think it’s worth spending any blogtime over.
Now some papers, though … well … let’s take a local print (as well as online) paper. Say they did something really odd like hire a local university grad student to write a review. Say that reviewer criticized the coordination of the timpani and woodwinds in the first movement of a piece. Say there wasn’t any timpani in that movement. Say a musician had a little squawk on one note and the reviewer said the player was out of tune, unable to tell the difference between a squawk and intonation. I wouldn’t necessarily be angry at the writer but I would certainly say “Shame on you, local print (as well as online) paper!”
Or maybe I would say (or write) that. Maybe not. Maybe I’d just remain silent and hope others would correct the errors and give the newspaper “what for”.
But a local paper would never do that. Right?
