Cleveland . . . a mass of naked flesh
Sharon Reed’s venture into gonzo reporting

I have mentioned this in another post, so a full entry is warranted.

Many of you are already aware that I like the public installation work by Spencer Tunick (see the official Spencer Tunick webpages for more).

Well, recently, Tunick went to Cleveland for another installation shoot. This is of interest to me because I like Tunick’s work and because one of my best friends, Michael Cheng, hails from Cleveland . . . but mostly, it is of interest because one of the local Cleveland news anchors decided to report on the event by participating in it.

This is an example where gonzo goes gonzo in that the act of reporting through participation leads to controversy to the degree that the report becomes the news rather than informs us of the news. Some have been critical of the station and the anchor but others have been supporive.

During ratings sweeps week, Sharon Reed reported on Tunick’s Cleveland work by participating in it . . . that’s right, along with 3,000 other Cleveland residents, she took off all her clothes and posed nude en masse with all the other participants and for news cameras . . . taking gonzo reporting to the logical step.

Her report, titled Body of Art was the highest rated program in the station’s history. The producers and reporters knew it would be controversial, they knew it would bring in viewers, they were counting on it. However, they had no idea that it would be so controversial and bring in so many viewers.

The question that Reed is asking in her investigation is a worthwhile one, "Is this art?" Yes, it is. However, others have begun taking it further, calling the news report pornography, albeit softcore . . . that’s a bit much. Exploitative and caterning to basic curiousities, yes, but certainly not pornographic.

Of course, Ohio has a split personality when it comes to what is or is not acceptable in terms of public taste and consumption. The urban centers are very different from the rural areas.

It will be interesting to see how this story develops . . . especially in light of recent push-and-pull between the administration and local producers and consumers of sexually related and erotic material.

See Sharon Reed’s Body of Art report that it is art, Diana Keough’s likewise gonzoesque report that it isn’t art (minus the personal photographs), Julie E. Washington’s report for Plain Dealer that Reed’s report was simple opportunism, and a repeat of the Associated Press story with photos.

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Sharon Reed’s venture into gonzo reporting