That Ain't Workin'/That's the Way You Do It ...

I was pleased to see yesterday's Pop Culture Notebook, "Manchester poets don't want their MTV," is among the Telegram's most read stories today. If you've not read about Slam Free or Die's conflict with MTV over the characterization of the reading's Vote Free or Die political poetry reading -- which MTV initially characterized as a Ron Paul rally, before slightly amending their story -- I sincerely recommend it. I found it to be extremely illustrative about what happens when independent artists get involved with corporate media. It's not always a conflict, but it's the sort of thing you have to go into warily. I was terribly pleased yesterday to see the New England poetry community and the national slam community rally around Manchester co-hosts Mark Palos and Sam Teitel. The MTV debacle will pass, but that sort of love and support is hard-earned, well-deserved and, ultimately, what lasts out of messes such as these.