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i agree that this is frustrating. i don’t work at a music-focused (or even culture-focused) outlet so i cannot generalize other than to say that there are a lot of factors that influence coverage—writer interest, editor interest, strength of the angle, fit for that outlet... /1 https://twitter.com/relofhope/status/1265404118652325888
....bandwidth of editors/writers, what other content might need more urgent coverage, freelance budgets, etc. i cannot tell you how many pitches and press releases i receive for things that are probably very good and popular that we couldn’t cover. this is normal. 2/
this past month or two have been really hard on a lot of media outlets, and many culture editors and writers (as well as on other beats) across the industry have lost jobs or might soon lose jobs or be furloughed. this only exacerbates existing institutional biases about what 3/
is and isn’t worth covering. i am working on my own review of D-2, but on my own time and not for my employer/publication, because i want there to be some kind of focused criticism out there. i genuinely think this record deserves that. 4/
i am proof that the will of a single journalist (not at the top of the masthead), however intense, is not enough to determine coverage. if that were true there would probably be a BTS-related story in The Atlantic every week. 5/
last thing i’ll say: i know there are outlets out there that might have reviewed MOTS:7 but wouldn’t have given it glowing coverage and didn’t think a negative piece would be worth the immense backlash from fans. as an editor, i understand that calculation. as a fan, i wish 6/
there were more serious coverage from non-fan critics, and it’s sad knowing that the thought of making millions of people on Twitter angry is one thing deterring some places from trying to cover BTS objectively. 7/
i know hardcore ARMYs who are sometimes scared about saying they don't really like X song or Y album on here because of how defensive and reactionary the fandom tends to get. that ingrained defensiveness and reactiveness was forged by years of indefensible xenophobia, actual 8/
campaigns of harassment & misinformation by other fandoms, homophobia, and general prejudice. it has served a purpose and often been a real strength. but nuance is rarely possible on a massively collective level. 9/
to clarify: the fandom's reactiveness and defensiveness emerged (in large part out of necessity) because of how much prejudice/harassment, etc that BTS faced from other fandoms/media, etc.** 10/
anyway, "the fandom" isn't one thing. it's literally tens of millions of people. it can be messy, but most people are trying their best! 11/
