**Note the source names are the hyperlinks.
Source 1
Where: Web source. It comes from the online magazine "The Clyde Fitch Report," an online cross disciplinary arts magazine that specifically covers stories on theater, dance, art, etc. This might cause it to defend the performers in the arts more than the arts critics.
Who: Lenard Jacobs. He is the former national editor of Back Stage, which is trade publication for American actors, and is the founding editor of Theatermania.com. He received his education from Hunter college, and is an adjunct professor at Baruch College. Although, his Facebook account projects him as a fairly strong Democrat, I am unsure how this could potentially make his bias to this story.
When: Publish the article on Dec. 5, 2010. At this time Black Swan was out in theaters, and audience members were being shown the "dark side" of ballet including eating disorders and distorted body images.
My source offers an incredibly bias point of view. In fact, he structures his article as a hypothetical story which included calling Macaulay an asshole. He definitely sides more with the public in the fact that he believes that critics should not be commenting on the dancers' appearance. He also gets most of his information from Jennifer Edwards, which makes us question his specific knowledge on the topic.
Source 2
Where: Web source. It comes from the Huffington Post. This paper is very established and is usually very respected. However, this is a blog post within the Huffington Post. Therefore, we must assume that it might be slightly less credible than something that is an actual column in the Huffington Post.
Who: The author's name is Jennifer Edwards. She is a visiting artist at Point Park University, and also works as a writer, choreographer, and communication consultant. She has worked as a coordinator for many multi-media and spoken-word productions. From this, we can tell that she is pretty invested in the arts world, and we can assume that she is a fairly credible source, despite it being a blog post.
When: Published on Dec. 2, 2010. Once again, the Black Swan movie along with the body appreciation growing probably helped shape her opinion.
What this particular post has to offer is the opinion of someone involved in the dance world (including dancers), and someone who has drawn from multiple different sources. She has interviewed another dancer writer on the situation and has drown from interviews that others have done. Although the article is more partial to Ringer and the public, I would still consider this a fairly credible source.
Source 3
Where: Web source. It comes from Elle Magazine. This site could be a little questionable, since it is primarily a style and fashion magazine.
Who: Kristen Mascia is the author. From her LinkedIn profile, I found she is a self-employed/freelance writer and studied at Georgetown University. She has written for a number of other popular magazines such as People, and Good Housekeeping. She's probably had quite a bit of experience dealing with people, so we can assume that she would probably ask good questions.
When: Feb. 12, 2011. The contoversy over Black Swan had probably died down by this point. However, the body image crisis was still in full swing. As a magazine dealing with fashion and body exposure, this could have possibly made the interviewer's questions bias.
This post though gave more in depth knowledge than I thought it would though. Because it was an interview conducted with just Ringer, we were albe to find out specific first-person information on her and the event leading up to the incident, as well has how she handled the situation.
Source 4
Where: Web source. The source is the Mass Live. I couldn't find out too much about whether this sight was reputable or not, but they seem to have reporters who updated as frequently as possible on national happenings.
Who: It was written by "The Associated Press". This is an independent non-profit news gathering agency. Because it is not owned by the government or id independently owned, we can assume that the bias is pretty low.
When: Dec. 13, 2010. Controversy over Black Swan was still stirring at this time, which would probably make the writer a little more bias towards the dancer.
The article offers a pretty comprehensive overview of each side, both Macaulay's and Ringer's. However, all of their information is gathered through all the other news media. There is no first hand information here. That doesn't necessarily make it any less credible, as long as they chose from credible sources.
Source 5
Where: Web source. The source is Today News. Because this is a morning news show, they often need an entertainment value factor for their news stories. This might not effect the credibility, but more the value of the information.
Who: John Springer (interview conducted by Anne Curry). John Springer is a TODAY contributer. Springer used to be an actor. This doesn't necessarily affect his credibility, but since he was in the performing arts, he could be bias towards Ringer.
When: Dec. 13, 2010. Once again, we have the body image movement going on as well as the issues and stresses of dance brought up in the movie Black Swan. In terms, of entertainment value this is very high. Almost everyone now wants to side with the dancer. Also, it connects well with audience members.
The article offers valuable information in that it is an in-person interview and it is being broadcast. This means it appeals to the audiences eyes and hears. Unlike pure text with pictures, we get to see and hear directly from Ringer. We see her collar bones stick out and her soft, yet confident and assured, voice. It definitely represents Ringer's side though since she is the one being interviewed.
Source 6
Where: Web source. The source is the New York Times. This paper is very well established and usually give reliable information. The lean slightly more left, but I am unsure of how this would affect my particular controversy.
Who: Alastair Macaulay. He is the chief dance critic of the New York Times and has been writing arts reviews for over 30 years. He is a member of Baruch College, and is from Britain. He is not present on any social media that I can find. As far as I can tell he is very credible in his field. He has been known in the past to comment on performers' body weights.
When: Nov. 28, 2010. Black Swan had not been released yet, so there was nothing to cloud his judgment. However, the body-appreciation movement was still present. Although, this did not seem to affect his review. In fact it went completely against the movement's message.
This article is very relevant to my story because it is what caused the controversy in the first place. It also offers Macaulay's raw opinion before anyone could sway it. This obviously represents Macaulay because he wrote the article.
Source 7
Where: Web source. The source is the New York Times. This paper is very well established and usually give reliable information. The lean slightly more left, but I am unsure of how this would affect my particular controversy.
Who: Alastair Macaulay. He is the chief dance critic of the New York Times and has been writing arts reviews for over 30 years. He is a member of Baruch College, and is from Britain. He is not present on any social media that I can find. As far as I can tell he is very credible in his field. He has been known in the past to comment on performers' body weights.
When: Dec. 3, 2010. Black Swan had just been released yet, and with much anticipation for the movie, audiences were rushing to see the horror film in theaters. The body-appreciation movement was still present. Because this article is backing his opinion on his intital review, you would think that perhaps the out roar from the public would have swayed his initial decision, but instead he supported his decision with even more force than before.
This article is very relevant to my story because it showed how invested Macaulay is in his decision. It reveals how important it is for a critic to be a critic, and not someone who panders to an audience.
Source 8
Where: Web source. The source is Pointe Magazine. This is a very well establish dance magazine that primarily focuses on the happening in the ballet world. This definitely leans it more towards Ringer, seeing how she is a principal dancer and dancers can usually relate more to other dancers than they do to dance critics.
Who: Kate Lydon. She is an alumna of both American BAllet Theater and San Francisco Ballet. She has extensive work teaching dance and training dance teachers and currently is the editor for Pointe Magazine, Dance Spirit, and Dance Teacher Magazine. Although it seems she has no former schooling, she is well versed in the world of dance, and has had great success in editing some of the dance worlds biggest magazines. I would say she is credible and reliable. Although, slightly swayed by the dancer point of view.
When: Nov. 16, 2011. I could not find any new controversies during that particular time that would have particularly swayed or affect this article.
This source offers valuable information in the fact that it specifically interviews Macaulay. I could not find any interviews with him that touched on this subject in particular, so this was a very valuable resource. This doesn't necessarily represent either stakeholder, it is more informational than opinionated.
Source 9
Where: Web source. This source comes from the video site Vimeo. This could potentially affect the credibility, since anyone can post almost anything. However, the video is of an old NBC interview with a young 15 year old Jenifer Ringer, so we can assume there is some credibility.
Who: The woman who posted the video is Susan Farkas. She is an international broadcast executive and journalist for Farkas Media. She has also helped produce and direct documentaries, featured segments, and other video. The interviewer is Connie Chung. She has been a TV anchor and reporter for major networks such as NBC, CBS, ABC, CNN, and MSNBC. She was removed as a NBC news anchor after an apparently combative interview with a firefighter at the scene of the Oklahoma City bombing. This seems fairly credible.
When: The video was posted three years ago, but I was not able to find the date the story actually aired. Although considering she was 40 when retiring in 2014 and the story of her was taped when she was 15, I would venture to guess it aired around 1989. There isn't really much to affect or make the video bias. Although, there was a great turnover in the company in 1989, so there was probably a lot of competition in the upper division of the school to see who might be able to garner an apprenticeship or possibly corps position.
This source is something that I believe gives us a little more background on Jenifer Ringer in the fact that it is her completely not affected by Macaulay. It shows her rigor and drive, and gives the audience more of an idea of the ideals and work that go into ballet. It is a visual and audible stimulus, which many readers enjoy. It is also ironic, becuase it shows Jenifer ringer and people saying how "perfect" her body is proportioned for ballet.
Source 10
Where: Web source. The source comes from the site Jezebel. Jezebel is known to cater heavily to feminists. This would probably be considered a source that is more biased.
Who: Margaret Hartmann is the author. She is the senior editor at New York Magazine and received her education at Boston University. If she is writing for Jezebel, we must assume that she shares their feminist views as well.
When: Nov. 29, 2010. Once again, Black Swan had not aired yet, but the accepting others' bodies and appreciating self-image was still in full swing. Since this movement is usually tied to women, the author and the commenters below, are most likely biased and see the story through a specific lens.
This article is pertinent to my controversy, as it shows a very prominent opinion from the public. This article's commenters actually contain ones that agree with Macaulay in some ways. This was surprising to me given the kind of magazine and the readers it usually attracts. It lead to a great controversy in the comments section that mirror the debate about what is "normal thin" and "what is dancer thin."
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| Shertzer, Fanny. "Chenxin Liu - Don Quichotte, Kitri" 03/02/2011 via Wikipedia. Public Domain |
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