Voices in the newspapers of record June 14, 2007

The New York Times has published a followup article by Melena Ryzik about the June 9 Vineyard Theater performance of Voices In Conflict.

And then there’s the Wilton Bulletin, “newspaper of record” for the Connecticut town whose Board Of Education prohibited performance of the play that has now become the hottest ticket on off-Broadway.

The Bulletin continues to practice what Alexander Cockburn calls “journalistic on-the-other-handism”, having given equal weight to an interview with Paul Rieckhoff and crackpot paranoid rantings from Barbara Alessi.

In April, after the play was banned, the editorial page was publishing anonymous anti-Bonnie Dickinson screeds; more recently the same editorial page praised the bravery of the VIC cast in standing up to the taunts of other students, while the paper offered a fair article about the performances.

In the Bulletin‘s defense, their status seems to give them access to people like Superintendent of Schools Gary Richards who have otherwise clammed up to the print media since the Times article. But really, if a mass murder was ever committed in Wilton the Bulletin would probably offer the perp a slot on the op-ed page next to the victims’ families. Is this balance, or is it cowardice in the face of controversy?

Meanwhile, in the blogosphere (which is to say, the real newspapers of record nowadays), Matthew Good and Aquablog give their perspectives based on Amy Goodman’s review of the Culture Project performance.

Technorati tags: Voices In Conflict, Wilton High School, Wilton Board Of Education, New York Times, Melena Ryzik, Wilton Bulletin