OnStage Blog Picking Up Dropped NYT #MeToo Broadway Story

[bwayboy22]

Do we think anything will come of this? They tweeted the following:

Screw it. Im done seeing Broadway powers protect Broadway predators.

We all know about The NY Times story that was squashed.

Were picking up where they left off and will publish what they wouldnt.

If anyone has any information, DM us, anonymity will be protected. #MeToo

https://twitter.com/onstageblog/status/1328877942672338945?s=21

[Ravenclaw]

Honestly? I admire the effort, but OnStage doesn't have the same clout (or quality reporting) as the New York Times and I don't have faith in them to do the story well. I hope they do, but their track record hasn't done much. Their story about Tyce a couple years ago was swept under the rug and mostly scrubbed from the internet; I don't know the behind the scenes details of that story or what led to its being removed from the site, but that ordeal doesn't make me think that this is the right outlet for this important, serious reporting. I do sincerely wish them success, though.

[LizzieCurry]

Fixed that subject line for you.

Anyway, I like a lot of what OnstageBlog is doing and wants to do, but oh holy heeeellllll do they need copy editor, not to mention a style guide — and if they already have the latter, they need an editor to enforce it.

[JBroadway]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9weqnWBaehg

[Sutton Ross]

Nah. 

[itsjustmejonhotmailcom]

OnStage Blog makes the BroadwayWorld message boards look like a Pulitzer-winning newsroom operation.

[fashionguru_23]

The #MeToo movement is something incredibly important in moving our world forward, however, with the current state of affairs in the world, do you think it will create the "spark" that it would have during the "height" of it all?

[Kad]

OnStage is an amateurish operation, run by and featuring folks who aren’t journalists or even particularly good writers. They lack the resources to do thorough fact checking, their posts are often overlong, unwieldy, and nakedly biased or trying to force a story.

An exposé like this requires a lot of work and skill and sensitivity, and frankly nothing they have done suggests they could successfully pull it off.

...to say nothing of the legal challenges they could face.

[L_Ash826]

As it's been plainly stated by posters above me, OnStage Blog is trash. I wouldn't count on that blog for any bit of my information. It's run by attention-seeking amateurs hoping to get noticed by posting splashy controversial pieces without adequate research, evidence, or skill. If there is a theatre source out there that is going to pick up the NYT's work and expose the predators... this one ain't it. 

[LizzieCurry]

They definitely need to get their act together. I was surprised at how positive this development seems to be received on Twitter vs. here, and by people I generally trust (on the former)!

[L_Ash826]

@LizzieCurry, can you point me in the direction of a positive reception on Twitter? I'm only seeing two .gif replies and two non-sequitur responses. 

[LizzieCurry]

https://twitter.com/OnstageBlog/status/1328877942672338945/retweets/with_comments

A few others were on FB that I can't link to.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Very few people in those replies get how journalism actually works. Sigh.

[Kad]

An article like this is emblematic of the issues with OnStage. It seeks the answer to a reasonable question: why would Broadway producers and theater owners donate to far-right senator Roy Blunt? But the author apparently didn’t actually attempt to reach out to these people to get their rationale for doing so, it simply hammers the question over and over again while saying why they shouldn’t have. And then the sole comment on the article points out that Blunt is a key vote on the appropriations committee and would be needed for things like pension reform.

https://www.onstageblog.com/editorials/broadway-elites-donate-to-gop-senator

[BroadwayNYC2]

I don’t think it’s a secret we have a media literacy issue in this country, and it ain’t just conservatives. The call is coming from inside the house, and it isn’t getting better

[HogansHero]

Kad said: "An article like this is emblematic of the issues with OnStage. It seeks the answer to a reasonable question: why would Broadway producers and theater owners donate to far-right senator Roy Blunt? But the author apparently didn’t actually attempt to reach out to these people to get their rationale for doing so, it simply hammers the question over and over again while saying why they shouldn’t have. And then the sole comment on the article points out that Blunt is a key vote on the appropriations committee and would be needed for things like pension reform."

This one is a near perfect emblem of the ignorance, naiveté, and lack of scholarship of that site. The fact is that Blunt is a key player for the Save Our Stages Act, which he has co-sponsored with Schumer et al. That's really all you need to know here to understand this. Now we can argue (as I would, vigorously) that we need to get ALL money out of politics, but until that happens, people pay for support of their issues and politicians lavish praise on their opponents when they find common ground. (This is as common for Bernie as it is for Biden, and an m.o. that is getting him compared with the positive attributes of LBJ.) The blog is so dumb they don't even see the forest for the trees. 

[LizzieCurry]

It would be nice/better if something like American Theatre Magazine would pick this up.

https://www.americantheatre.org/2017/12/13/what-happens-after-metoo/

There is this, but other than that...? 

[Sutton Ross]

BroadwayNYC2 said: "I don’t think it’s a secret we have a media literacy issue in this country, and it ain’t just conservatives. The call is coming from inside the house, and it isn’t getting better"

100%

[everythingtaboo]

bwayboy22 said: "Do we think anything will come of this? They tweeted the following:

Screw it. Im done seeing Broadway powers protect Broadway predators.

We all know about The NY Times story that was squashed.

Were picking up where they left off and will publish what they wouldnt.

If anyone has any information, DM us, anonymity will be protected. #MeToo

https://twitter.com/onstageblog/status/1328877942672338945?s=21"

First pick up all the apostrophes you left off and then we'll take it seriously. Or really still not, echoing Kad and HogansHero.

[LizzieCurry]

Meanwhile, from the LA Times:

https://twitter.com/cashleelee/status/1329125554155470849

[jonartdesigns]

Has this story even been published yet? I’m seeing a whole lotta steam and no sizzle.

[LizzieCurry]

You mean the one that was killed by the NYT? The whole point is that it wasn't published.

[jonartdesigns]

When I read “Were picking up where they left off and will publish what they wouldnt.” I assumed they actually HAD the story, and weren’t just fishing for one.

[Kad]

jonartdesigns said: "When I read “Were picking up where they left off and will publish what they wouldnt.” I assumed they actually HAD the story, and weren’t just fishing for one.
"

Just very inelegant phrasing from them, which is... another reason why this should not be pursued by OnStage.

[SeanD2]

Kad said: "...to say nothing of the legal challenges they could face."

I mean this is everything they should be talking about. If they go down this road their legal liability could be huge especially if they go after people who may not be considered public figures.