When Skull Kontrol first offered its take on the music journalist, I was happy to embrace it at face value. Yes, thought I, my angst a-flyin’, this town DOES need a new rock critic. The guy we’ve got is a hack, a has-been! He hates everything that’s good! ‘Course that was back when I thought that everything was good–a position that would, naturally, leave little room for critical writing (or, for that matter, thinking).
But when I started my run at the Washington City Paper, I began to appreciate just what we had in the-guy-we’ve-got. Every week, more-or-less, the man–Mark Jenkins–found enough material to pump out film reviews, music reviews, and picks-of-the-week. Sometimes, he’d throw in a column or a feature. The sheer volume of stuff that he produced while there (and this was only one of his gigs) spoke for his creative ability, which–though it didn’t come complete with the glib flash of some of his peers–was something to behold. And besides, the guy knows his shit.
Now that he’s left my alma mater, I find myself feeling a bit sentimental over it all. I mean, the turnover at the place of my former employ has been a little ridiculous since my old bosses sold the place. And seeing the word former in reference to the working relationship between Jenkins and CP may just have been the proverbial straw. But still, Jenkins? Really?
To be clear: I have no idea–read: no inside info–about what happened to force him from his post. Maybe he was done with hardcopy journalism. Maybe he was done with the Washington City Paper. Maybe the town really did need a new rock critic. But I do know that papers across the country are cutting back on their staffs in the hopes that they can adjust to the new media world order. And it would be a shame if this is what spelled the end of Mark Jenkins at CP.
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September 19, 2008 at 10:42 am
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