Media Musings: Bonnaroo lacked in-depth coverage
Paul Harvey, who’s been a staple of American radio forever, or so it seems, does wonderful pieces called “the rest of the story,” where he draws a detailed word portrait. Such work takes patience, solid research and arresting wordsmithing.
Certainly one of the reasons his commentaries are so interesting is the use of detail to tell a story with nuances, shading and a hint of drama. His work leaves the listener feeling informed and entertained.
That’s what is so troubling about the local coverage of Bonnaroo, where 70,000 fans gathered on a 530-acre farm 60 miles south of Music City to listen to 50 bands crank out all sorts of music for three days.
While I cannot claim to have read every local story or seen every local newscast, my perception is that I got a coverage that cared more about the historic traffic jam and the fact that no riot ensued than any coverage of substance. Especially TV can do that kind of superficial coverage well.
Well, it’s time for the rest of the story. In a full page story in Rolling Stone (July 25th issue), there was the kind of in-depth coverage of the music which is a Stone staple. I really believe the area media could have provided that as well, given the great base of the recording industry in Nashville.
But, it also ran a box detailing the kinds and quality of drugs available at the events. In summary, the quantities of marijuana and mushrooms were very large. Even though, Rolling Stone reported, the sponsors had hired 250 guards on watch for narcotics (a ratio of one officer per 2,800 revelers), mushrooms were going for $40 per quarter ounce, chocolate-covered mushrooms for $20 per stem and cap, $40 for 3.5 grams of pot, $5 per tab of acid, $2 per pill of Valium, $20 per pill of Ecstasy and $8 per six pack of Bud. The reporters then reported the quality of these products and I don’t want to know how they got such information.
Of course, Rolling Stone had no criticism of this, since it’s still the mantra of its owner, Jann Wenner, that rock n’ roll and sex and drugs, well, they just go together, don’t they?
The review of the jam was literally that of a good time there for everyone and that there probably was no genre or blend of music that could not be heard from the four stages.
Ashley Capps said he wanted to create an event for the people who love the live-concert experience, not the one that is canned or preproduced and the reviewers said he delivered on that promise.
It’s no accident we didn’t have miles of arrest reports and clashes. It’s obvious the police officers and guards took a hands-off policy, that is, they let the event play out as the biggest jam fest this summer and in the words of a famous song writer, just “let it be.”
In hindsight, that appears to be a wise way to handle crowd control and college students came home praising police for being tolerant, “turning a blind eye” as one of my students reported.
Should the heavy use of drugs been reported locally? If Bonnaroo was truly an music event of the summer, as everyone seems to agree, then why wasn’t it covered with the same hard news standards as regular news rather than the approaches so often taken?
My concern is for comprehensive reporting and to end the shallowness stalking our local news outlets. I am arguing the coverage of all stories should maintain the highest quality of depth, interviews, and eye-witness reporting. And telling us there was a four-hour backup on the interstate to get to Bonnaroo and running maps on TV telling us how to avoid that is not comprehensive coverage.
(Ed Kimbrell is a professor in MTSU’s School of Journalism.)