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The media and blogosphere fray over The Entryway has mostly quieted and one of the bloggers who got caught up in the controversy is about to call it quits. ("I've got like $40 in my bank account. I need to make a living," says Kara Mears.) Now comes L.A. Times media columnist James Rainey with his take, saying "although The Entryway journalists appear to have open and empathetic hearts, some of their critics sound more apt to send them to a firing squad than to a reeducation camp. The punishment far outstrips the crime."
Noted: Journalists Mears and Devin Browne have posted a revised description of the project since the controversy began last month:
The Entryway is a personal narrative written and photographed by two journalists. We are living with a family from Mexico, now in the Westlake/MacArthur Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, to learn Spanish so that we may better report on our native city and country. Our subject is not the family we live with, but our relationship with the family we live with: what we understand and do not understand about one another, the places our worlds meet and do not. We acknowledge that there are delicate subject matters inherent in this project. The most we can hope for is that the selected experiences we write about here inspire a dialogue that is much larger and more inclusive than our two singular perspectives ever could be.
Previously on LA Observed:
Much activity in the media future sphere
Criticizing the 'embedded in MacArthur Park' project *
'The Entryway' spurs dismay and a response
The Entryway responds to criticisms
Now begin The Entryway spoofs