Tonight – Friday, 22 June
• Preview/Interview: Mark Jenkins talks to Image Band [Washington Post]. Part of the Reggae Night at Carter Barron Amphitheatre.
• CD Review: Walk the Moon: Walk the Moon. Reviewed by Mark Jenkins [Washington Post]. At the Black Cat.
• Preview: Matt Siblo on Hot Snakes [Washington CityPaper]. At the Rock & Roll Hotel.
• Preview/Interview: Marie Gullard on Angela Winbush [Washington Examiner]. At Blues Alley tonight, Saturday, and Sunday.
• The latest on BYT‘s “Write a suicide note to win Morrissey tickets” situation: If you didn’t think that BYT changed the contest on its own, you were right. Alex Baca at the Washington CityPaper talked to a representative of contest sponsor IMP, who confirmed that IMP asked BYT to change the contest. To catch up on how this story unfolded, here’s the backstory: BYT posted a contest on Monday asking readers to write suicide notes in order to enter a contest to win tickets to Morrissey’s show at Strathmore. I wrote about this in Tuesday’s Music Notes. The Washington CityPaper picked up the story later that day and got some quotes from BYT managing editor Logan Donaldson. On Tuesday night, BYT quietly changed the contest to say “string together a couple of paragraphs using only Morrissey’s lyrics”; I printed the full text of the new contest and a rant from their Assistant Editor Stephanie Breijo in Wednesday’s Music Notes, and DCist picked up the story, getting an additional quote from Donaldson. THEN, BYT took its contest down entirely (if you click on the contest link now, you’re taken to a login page). The Washington CityPaper reported on that, with an additional statement from Donaldson. And once again, here’s the CityPaper’s interview with IMP spokesperson Audrey Schaefer.
• The saga around BYT‘s “Write a suicide note to win Morrissey tickets” continues. Here’s a summary: BYT posted a contest on Monday asking readers to write suicide notes in order to enter a contest to win tickets to Morrissey’s show at Strathmore. I wrote about this in Tuesday’s Music Notes. The Washington CityPaper picked up the story later that day and got some quotes from BYT managing editor Logan Donaldson. On Tuesday night, BYT quietly changed the contest to say “string together a couple of paragraphs using only Morrissey’s lyrics”; I printed the full text of the new contest and a rant from their Assistant Editor Stephanie Breijo in Wednesday’s Music Notes, and DCist picked up the story, getting an additional quote from Donaldson. THEN, BYT took its contest down entirely (if you click on the contest link now, you’re taken to a login page). The Washington CityPaper reported on that, with an additional statement from Donaldson.
• The Washington CityPaper picked up the commentary I wrote yesterday about BYT’s ridiculous “write a suicide note to win Morrissey tickets” and talked to BYT managing editor Logan Donaldson. Donaldson’s response is fair, but it’s somewhat negated by this response on the initial BYT post, from Assistant Editor Stephanie Breijo. I’m not going to repost the link, but I will copy/paste her text:
Hi, all–
In defense of this post and with full disclosure I’m writing to say that I, a BYT staffer fully in support of this giveaway prompt, have lost two people–with whom I was very close–because they committed suicide. One of my closest friends in high school OD’d in Los Angeles after a fight with her boyfriend. One of the first boys I ever kissed joined the Air Force and after a long tour in Iraq hanged himself over the side of a boat (in a very public place, no less).
Suicide is very real and it is TERRIBLE. I have experienced suicides first-hand but I’m writing to say that this does not place me above humor. Is it morbid? Entirely. So is Morrissey.
I have a newsflash for all of you: You are going to die. Everyone you love is going to die. Everyone you have ever met or interacted with is going to die, and this includes myself, the author of this post, and all its contestants. The fact that others choose to bow out before their time is sad but it is their decision. Sometimes all you can do is laugh, no matter how shitty the circumstances may be.
A quick google search will show you we are not, in fact, the only online publication discussing suicide in this fashion, in this week alone:
To Catherine Lewis of Showlist DC–I am truly sorry if we have offended you. But if you cannot see the humor in this, you probably shouldn’t be reading our site or, quite honestly, caring what we write about. It is our site. If you don’t like it, don’t read it. No one is pressing a gun to any reader’s head (perhaps more suitable for a Nirvana giveaway of some sort?). No one is being forced to read, nor are they being forced to participate.
That being said, we appreciate your input nonetheless.
Wishing everyone the best for the remainder of your days (however many you may have left),
Stephanie Breijo
Assistant Editor
So, to summarize, (1) it’s OK because Vice did it first. Also, (2) it’s OK because someone at BYT knows someone who committed suicide. And finally, (3) BYT apparently has more than one person on staff with the title of “Editor”. Who knew there was any actual editing going on at BYT?!
Anyway – BYT has changed the text of the contest. It’s no longer “write a suicide note to win tickets”; it’s now this:
TO WIN: Since there is no longer any truth to there being a light that never goes out (oh, song title puns!), and Morrissey has (has not? whatever) announced he’ll be retiring in 2014, why not string together a couple of paragraphs using only Morrissey’s lyrics. Okay, you can use The Smiths too. If you must.
