Wednesday, July 15, 2009

It's a Fiasco...

The Tony Awards committee decided to revoke voting privileges from first night press members, meaning all journalists are henceforth unable to participate in the Tony process. As many can guess, this decision is being met with a mostly negative response from bloggers, the chatterati on ATC, and inevitably those writers whose privileges have been revoked.

Citing "conflict of interest" doesn't quite cut it, as the press voters were the most objective parties who had a greater probability of seeing all nominated shows. Remaining voters include producers, actors, writers, union leaders, the Broadway League, et al, et al. You know... the Switzerland of the Broadway community. Anyway, it lowers the number of voters from 800 to 700, a 13% reduction.

When you provoke the media, you're liable to make them angry. Here are some further articles on the matter:

Chris Caggiano: Critics No Longer Tony Voters
Adam Feldman: This Just In: Tony Awards Nix Crix
Patrick Healy: Journalists Will No Longer Be Voting for Tony Awards
Matthew Murray: Reviewing the Tony Situation
Tom O'Neil: Tonys to Press: Drop Dead
Matt Windman: Destroying the Credibility of the Tony Awards: Banning Journalists as Voters

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