Welcome back.
- Adam Rottenberg
As you are flipping through your first Daily this year, you’ll probably notice a few changes within the Arts section. These changes grew out of a desire to make the Arts section better — well, as good as we can get without copying Rolling Stone again.
First and foremost, look for the brand-spankin’ new Arts columns. On Mondays, Jeffrey Bloomer will rant about film and television or Amanda Andrade will analyze the latest in pop culture. Wednesdays will feature the voices of Evan McGarvey on the popular music world and the team of Victoria Edwards and Bernie Nguyen on the latest in campus events. These columns will enable individual writers to tackle some of the greater issues facing the arts and entertainment world in ways that we can’t normally do in reviews or other features.
We’ll also be placing an increased emphasis on news and feature-based stories. Books editor Bernie Nguyen will be overseeing a new news-oriented section of Arts, focusing on the campus happening that we sometimes let fall through the cracks. As part of this new division, we will increase coverage of the University and its programs that are relevant to the section.
A new feature will also be introduced to the section starting Friday, the Ann Arbor Spotlight, a weekly Q&A session with a local person or group involved in the arts world. This means that you and your band should contact us so that we know you exist — even if you’ve only practiced together twice.
Along those same lines, we are committed to increasing awareness of the Ann Arbor and University scenes in all of the Arts subsections. Involved with an innovative concert performance? Contact us. Putting on a show in your dorm room for your hall? Probably not.
Additionally, Weekend Magazine is no more. Well, at least not the same as it used to be. The Statement, as it will henceforth be called, is taking a new approach. It will be a news-based features magazine. Some old favorites like “Random Student Interview” will still be there for all you Weekend fans. Be sure to check out the first issue on Thursday, Sept. 15. It will definitely not suck — at least that’s the plan.
Don’t fret though; not everything is changing. We will still be bringing you all the interviews, reviews and previews you have come to enjoy reading when you should be listening in lecture. But we have the unique ability to focus on the Ann Arbor and University arts scene, and we are committed to bringing that to you.
— As always, tell us when we suck. How else are we supposed to know? Contact Rottenberg at arotten@umich.edu.