2/25 - Eric Danton Summary, Patrick Swidler (Alyssa Carroll)

Eric Danton Summary
Note taker: Patrick Swidler
Disscussion Leader: Alyssa Carroll


Unlike the previous speakers, the flow of Eric Danton's discussion was significantly less controversial and much more laid back. This class provided a fresh and rather relieving approach to journalism that stems not from money but from a passion for critiquing music. Eric Danton's positive attitude towards his job transcended his presentation and created a discussion that was dissimilar to any prior.

Alyssa Carroll focused her discussion on the public relations aspect of Eric Danton's job. She also proposed questions of ethical merit along with questions regarding the longevity of a critic's position in print journalism. The vast majority of the students participating in the discussion enjoyed Eric Danton's presentation and respected his ethical values. They seemed to appreciate his honesty and knowledge of the genre. However, one student questioned his background with music and the effect it may have on his career.

Alyssa first questioned whether Danton was using his critiques' as a means of PR. She inquired as to whether it was unethical to promote a band through his critiques, increasing their population recognition. Alex responded by saying that he is performing a subtle type of PR but with no spin or malice. Danton is merely doing his job. When a band or publishing company gives him an album to listen to, he has every right to say whatever he wants about it, highlighting his freedom and unbiased critiquing. Shane concurred with Alex because he believes Danton writes with a lack of intended spin. He said their was no limit on opinion with Danton's music writing. The rest of the class appeared to agree on this matter and settled on Danton being only a critic. Alyssa added that this was similar to Daily Campus reviews and their critiques on local bands. She explained how she thought it was indirect PR because it lacked specific attention. Whenever Danton goes to a concert or gets an album to critique it is done so in a open minded fashion. He is not necessarily hired by one specific company. Instead he decides which album he wants to listen to or which concert he wants to attend based on his interest in giving the respective band a fair critique.

Professor Dufresne described this as a difference between exposure and promotion. Danton is not promoting the band as a publisher would because he just as easily may say it is the worst thing he has ever listened to or attended. Instead he is simply giving the band exposure. Often journalists and publicists say “any news is good news.” This can apply to local bands because even if Danton doesn't think very highly of the band, others who dislike Danton's taste in music may enjoy it. The rest of the class agreed with Professor Dufresne on the lines of Danton's exposure as opposed to promotion.

The discussion then turned to a comparison between Danton and Kyle Reyes. Eli mentioned how the difference between them was Reyes “put on the air what he likes and Danton constantly keeps an open mind.” He added how Reyes and London attract more attention and also give more attention to one specific company, person or event.

The class agreed upon the importance of Danton's critiques as necessary for the people who follow music and read the Hartford Courant. The necessity of his job led Alyssa to lead the class into a discussion on job security. Danton had mentioned how the head political writer was laid-off at the Courant, but he was able to keep his job. He explained how it was because he was paid significantly less then the older employees so it is financially smarter to keep him on the payroll. He continued to say how he does feel his time will come and will eventually be laid off at some point or another.

When Alyssa posed this topic for class discussion, Jesse responded by saying he feels critic's like Danton will be forced to online writing only. Barren agreed by saying “Print critic's will go away and will be limited instead to websites like rottentomatoes.com and imdb.com.” The class felt the Internet will provide readers with more opportunities to give feedback to the critic's on their opinions. Unlike newspapers, online writing connects everyone instantly and provides an open forum that newspapers can not. Shane believes that there is more room for critic's on the Internet anyway. Outside of the “celebrity” critic's, the majority of them will be on the Internet in the future, according to the class.

A portion of the class mentioned the rise of tabloid popularity and the decline of newspaper quality. The firing of the head political writer only contributes to this trend and stories that provoke interest such as celebrity gossip benefit. There was a majority decision that this is not necessarily a bad thing. During tough economic times, softer news like the critiques Danton writes provide the reader with a good alternative to a constant barrage of bad news.

The final aspect of Alyssa's portion of the discussion focused around the transparency of Danton's work. She suggested that too much transparency is a bad thing and the objectivity Danton provides his readers is a plus. He mentioned that he will always respond if asked what music he is partial to, but will never openly post his favorite music on public forum's like Facebook. Alex thought it was a good thing for no transparency but realizes that when reviews are concerned some bias will always unintentionally go into it.

Danton finished his presentation in a similar fashion to Alyssa. She brought up how Danton never uses the word I in writing. He said this is because he feels it takes away from the credibility and overall power of the writing. He explained that it was better to “show and not tell” the reader what you are trying to get across. The class agreed with Danton's style and felt it provided the reader with a better article and smoother flow.

The take-away cards provided some interesting insight on what the students felt were the most interesting parts of Danton's speech. Joe felt the fundamentals are the key to all types of reporting. He appreciated how Danton didn't tell the readers what he thinks of the album, instead he tells them what the album is about. Danton mentioned this more then one time because he felt it was important for the audience to know about the concert or album as opposed to just how he felt about it personally.

The passion Danton has for his job rubbed off on the class during Alyssa's discussion. The lack of conflict was filled in with powerful interest by the class. Alyssa concluded her discussion with the specifics of Danton's writing which was entirely fitting because just as Danton puts the story before his opinion, she involved the class into a free flowing discussion above anything else.

Take-Away Cards:

Joe: It may be obvious, but fundamentals are the key to all types of reporting. Reporters aren't the story, he doesn't tell the readers what he thinks of the album. He tells them what the album is about. A paper loses its voice if it has no critics.

Rowan: I like how he is so passionate about his job, because that isn't always the case, especially in today's economy. I also thought he was really honest about what he didn't like about his job, like covering bands he hates.

Amy: I thought the point he made about the subjectivity in his writing-that he displayed his opinion, but that it was a fair and uniformed opinion, is a point I wish would be adopted by more traditional points of the news.

Christine: The fact that as a reporter, you are now expected to be multifaceted: a personality, blogger, etc...

Beren: Treat a show like your a foreign reporter, gotta show what it feels like to be in the show. Describe a GWAR show moot like a trip into Gaza.

Kim: I thought he was very informative about his career. He seems to have a great, exciting job that he is very dedicated to.

February 26, 2009 11:36 PM