1. John Longenbaugh, the Weekly‘s theater columnist, has taken a job as the PR manager at the 5th Avenue Theatre. He’s killing his column, “Longenbaugh on Theatre,” but will continue to write for the Weekly about “arts,” just not the 5th Avenue: except, he wrote in an email, “maybe to give some insight into how the largest theater institution in the Puget Sound does things differently from everyone else.”

Over on the Weekly’s blog, editor Mark Fefer has different ideas: “I look forward to having him weighing in on our blog (though obviously not on any subjects touching the 5th).”

Longenbaugh kept up the column while working as a playwright and a director for the past couple of years, and wrote that he didn’t think doubling up as a press agent and member of the press would be substantially different.

I’m not so sure: writing about theater as a theater-making insider is one thing; writing about theater as a professional promoter is another. The possibility for failures of integrity are much higher when you’re professionally obligated to pretend to like certain shows, and have to keep glad-handing relationships with other theaters. Playwrights and directors are allowed—even expected—to be grumpy, harsh, and impolite about the work of their peers. PR managers are not.

UPDATE

Longenbaugh clarifies: He’ll maybe be writing about the 5th Avenue for his new blog, Longenblog (Longenblaug?). He’ll continue to write about “the arts and other subjects. As for those who think that this is an ethics issue, I say—well, if you’ve got a journalism degree yourself, let’s talk. If you’re just another blogger, give me a break.”

2. Speaking of failures of integrity: Paul Jensen, the Weekly‘s systems administrator and former singer for the Dudley Manlove Quartet, might be going to jail for (allegedly) stealing from his own band mates:

According to charging papers, Jensen deposited $97,746 of the band’s earnings into his personal account from performances at weddings, private parties and Seattle venues such as the Crocodile Cafe and the Showbox between January 2006 and December 2007. Jensen was in charge of booking events for the band, signing contracts and collecting payment for gigs, court documents said.

The other band members — Mosier, bassist Steve Okimoto, guitarist Craig Corvin and then-keyboard player Korby Sears — confronted Jensen in January 2008 after they noticed several engagement fees were past due, according to court documents. Jensen said he had used band funds held in a limited-liability company account to “float” himself financially, but that he paid them back, court documents said.

Brend an Kiley has worked as a child actor in New Orleans, as a member of the junior press corps at the 1988 Republican National Convention, and, for one happy April, as a bootlegger’s assistant in Nicaragua....

12 replies on “Onward and Inward with the Weekly”

  3. you mean like when eric grandy hypes every night he dj’s at on this here blog? the stranger is so fucking full of shit. you all are a bunch of hypocrites. what exactly are the stranger’s standards? because anyone who regularly reads the print or blogs is lead to believe there are none.

  4. @3: Did you miss this part? “writing about theater as a theater-making insider is one thing; writing about theater as a professional promoter is another.” It’s not the same thing.

  5. @3, welcome to Slog. They make up their own rules, to which they are not beholden. Why just yesterday, Brendan wrote that Slog is only a blog, so they can post any ol’ rumors and gossip and junk that they like, cuz hey, it’s a blog!

  7. I have two journalism degrees (which is my problem), and I think this Longenbaugh fellow is full of shit. I can’t see New Times/VVM letting that arrangement fly in print (online is another story … that NT/VVM appears unable or unwilling to read). And oh yeah, I’m a former New Times guy too.

    Suck it, Weekly. No one even realizes you’re still around until you mess up.

  8. @5
    what part of him getting paid for people coming to these events do YOU not understand? i honestly don’t believe you are that stupid to not see obvious conflict of interest, and how the stranger engages in this kind of behavior all the time. i just think you are defending your coworkers at all costs.
    also, it’s not just grandy who does it, it’s a lot of the stranger writers. it’s tacky, and while not exactly unethical, it doesn’t exactly help credibility.

  12. Hey Brendan:

    I’ll pay you back those five bucks I borrowed, buddy. I swear. I thought you’d forgotten about it.

    Oh, and Greengiant? Do you mind me asking why if you’ve got two journalism degrees that instead of writing for a reputable new organization, you’re blogging under a silly pseudonym at the Stranger?

    I guess the news media business is in even sadder shape than I had thought….

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