Art journalism and cultural change: The coverage of the arts in Dutch newspapers 1965-1990

Cultural goods and activities are classified with respect to one another. Even though systems of cultural classification present themselves as natural and enduring, they are products of human action, continually subject to selection and change. An important role in the making and mediation of cultural classifications is played by agents and institutions whose job it is to make (quality) assessments with respect to the supply of cultural artifacts. The present study considered the coverage of artistic products and practices by art newsmakers in the daily press. The first aim was to identify the changes that occurred between 1965-1990 regarding the amount of space given by Dutch daily newspapers to art and to specific art forms. To gain a differentiated view, both popular and elite papers were taken into account. The second objective was to determine how forces extrinsic to the newspaper organization have affected the provision of information on the arts. The analysis shows that there were major changes in newspaper coverage of the arts in this period, resulting in a new hierarchy of art forms in terms of the proportion of space they received. The art forms that benefited most from this reshuffle are pop music (both in popular and elite papers), literature and film (in elite papers), and cabaret, musicals, and shows (in popular papers). The big 'losers' in both categories of papers are theater, classical music, and applied art, while visual art more or less consolidated its position. Dance received considerably more attention, but could not escape its low-ranking position in the papers' hierarchy. These changes appear to be closely related to changes in the audience for the arts, developments in the arts supply, and pressures from advertisers and competitors.

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