No one has e-mailed me about this specifically, but I have had
numerous people in the last week or so ask me two general questions
in person:
1. Do people actually e-mail you?
2. Why are you writing a column like this?
The answer to the first question is, in a word, yes. None of the
e-mails I’ve written about have been fabricated. Do I look
like Jayson Blair to you?
So if you’re reading these columns every week thinking
that ““ wait a minute ““ there’s no way people are
asking the questions they’re asking, I can assure you they
are. But if you don’t like the questions asked, e-mail me
different ones. That’s the only way anything will change.
The second question is a bit more complex.
I’m writing this column in large part because there’s
frequently not enough interaction between the people who make
newspapers and the people who actually read them. Naturally,
newspapers always welcome feedback, but what better way is there to
find out what you want to read about than by asking you directly
and responding to your inquiries?
ESPN’s Web site and magazine has a columnist named Bill
Simmons who handles reader interaction better than anyone else
I’ve ever seen. And he also does so on a bigger scale than
I’ve ever seen a columnist attempt.
His columns frequently refer to comments and questions sent in
by his readers, and there’s a real sense in his writing that
he’s aware of the issues his readers are thinking about and
discussing among themselves. Readers provide topics, from sports
news to the fact that Rhode Island is in fact neither a road, nor
an island.
Simmons’ column was one I’m trying to model this one
after, substituting the world of UCLA and L.A. arts and
entertainment for the sports world he inhabits. But Simmons
doesn’t only write about sports, and I don’t only want
to write about arts and entertainment. If there’s any topic
that you feel needs to be discussed, that’s what I want to
write about.
Like sports, what makes the field of arts and entertainment fun
is its consciousness of its own status as a diversion for
people.
Part of the fun in seeing a movie, going to a play, or even
following pop culture is in having the chance to discuss and argue
about it, knowing the whole time that most of it doesn’t make a
difference one way or the other. And when something actually
affects you on a personal or emotional level, then you just want to
talk about it all the more.
That’s also why I’m writing this column: People like to
talk about the arts, and I’m simply trying to facilitate and
streamline those conversations. If I can add to them in some way,
great, but if people are talking, then I’m a happy
person.
As long as you fill me in on what you’re talking
about.
E-mail Tracer at jtracer@media.ucla.edu.