A fortune cookie I opened yesterday suggested, in so many words, that it would behoove me to shut up. This is wisdom I should have taken to heart. If you follow Metroland on Twitter, you know that I did not follow this advice Friday afternoon.
We were criticized for 2 things we did in this week's issue: We ran a snarky, unbylined photocap of a show at Valentine's; we previewed 6 events this week--with photos--and only one of these was in the city of Albany.
After receiving Brent Gorton's e-mail Thursday afternoon (Mr. Gorton's band also performed at the show in question), in which he took us to task for this, we had an editorial room discussion and it was decided that he was right and we were wrong: We should not have run an unbylined "review" with the photo. (It was based on the comments of 2 people who were actually at the show, but that's not sufficient. Also, they weren't Metroland contributing writers, either.) We accept the blame and we will not do this again, as a matter of policy.
The second criticism is puzzling because, though our offices are in Albany, we are a regional publication. Which brings me to the subject of Metroland's coverage area.
Our coverage area is the Capital Region (Albany, Schenectady, Troy and their suburbs), Saratoga and north (including Glens Falls and Lake George), Hudson and environs, and Western Massachusetts. We also preview/review noteworthy events in cities where we aren't distributed, namely, Woodstock, North Adams, Williamstown, Verona (Turning Stone), and Northampton because we know many of our readers drive to these shows.
The previews with images were of events in Saratoga Springs; Holyoke, Mass.; Hudson; Great Barrington, Mass.; Rensselaerville; and Albany.
We also ran previews without images of events in Troy, Lake George, Hudson/Northampton (1 band, 2 shows), Saratoga, North Adams and Clifton Park.
Some weeks the preview section is Albany-centric. This week was not. We try to make it all balance out.
Shawn Stone
Arts Editor, Metroland
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