As ARMY waits with bated breath for the announcement of 2020’s Grammy nominations, Rolling Stone released their series of Grammy preview interviews where they talked with “likely contenders” about their year in 2019 and what they’re hoping for with regards to the future.
Coming off the recent Hollywood Reporter debacle, it’s understandable that one might be wary of clicking on an article like this one. After all, the Grammys are notoriously difficult to break into, especially for non-Western artists, and it would be unsurprising for a mostly-Western publication to fall back on the easy card trick of not taking a foreign group seriously and writing a fluff piece.
However, that’s not what we got, and it is remarkably refreshing.
So, on this week’s Check Yourself: Facts, we’re going to take a look at an article that manages to sidestep the traps that others have fallen into and come out with a well-written, respectful article that provides good information while remaining unclouded by a Western-centric bias.
Let’s start with the headline and subheader. Where the subject of our previous installment couldn’t get past the headline without making a misstep, this article passes our first test with flying colors. In the subheader, they refer to the group as “K-pop trailblazers” - which is a far more accurate statement than others have made, acknowledging their accomplishments as well as the fact that they’re busting into places unprecedented for K-pop artists.
From the headline, they continue in the same vein - and do so in ways that might surprise you.
Format Choice
This might seem like a surprising statement, but if you think about it, the “Q-and-A” style is actually a straightforward approach. In a “live” question-and-answer session, the interviewee’s responses still allow for dynamic topic shifts - for example, if someone says something shocking, an interviewer can follow this new and exciting path and still stick to the format - but accurately captures the sentiment of the interviewee.
One example of this within the article is when Rolling Stone asks which artists inspire the boys at the moment and, after they all respond, the interviewer asks a question based on Jin’s response: “Jin mentioned Halsey. What was it like working with her on ‘Boy With Luv’?”
The question-and-response format also prevents the interviewer from interjecting too much of their own opinion into the article; they aren’t doing any interpretation in this format - they are presenting what was recorded in a relatively cut-and-dry fashion. This was a clever choice on Rolling Stone’s part, as they are less likely to be accused of biased reporting or of misquoting someone because there is no room for it in this format in the first place.
Valid Questions
Clever choices aside, format cannot save a bad article if the questions asked were trite, meant to shock or alarm, or superficial. However, not to worry in this article - the questions are actually good.
In this case, because of the type of article it is, there was most likely going to be some overlap of questions. When talking about “Map of the Soul: Persona,” a question about Halsey is bound to come up, as she had a big part of the production of the album’s title track. It’s very hard to come up with a list of one hundred percent original questions, especially when the directive of the article is to discuss an album release.
Despite this, Rolling Stone handled itself well, interspersing questions regarding topics with which we’re already familiar among questions pursuing known topics from a different angle and more original questions.
Take, for example, their question about the boys’ potential upcoming military service - another topic which has been discussed before but is on everyone’s minds. They took a different, practical approach: asking about their tour plans if some of them must be absent. It’s a different angle than the usual (which often reads more as a “shock value” question) and is a perfectly logical question with a logical “just the facts” presentation.
They also asked a cute human interest question about the tuxedos the boys wore at the 2019 Grammys and how they would top the look next time, to which Suga gave a very Min Yoongi response:
“Well, we have to make it to the Grammys first for us to dazzle you with a new look.”
However, we can’t give them a perfect score in this category, due mostly to word choice when asking Jungkook about whether or not he really cried due to Dolly Parton. The question could be interpreted either as a human interest “exploring the artist’s emotional side” question or as a “are you serious” slightly demeaning question. This is up to the interpretation of the reader and was probably asked in good faith, but it could have been worded differently, keeping in mind that a reader is only going to have text to read, which doesn’t always capture tone.
Professional Tone
This brings us to our next point: the tone of the article overall is professional and respectful. There is no indication of the interviewer’s opinion, and the information presented is in a very tactful, no-nonsense fashion. In the introductory paragraphs, they present facts without spin or side comments: “At the 2020 Grammys, they’re looking for a win, or at least a chance to perform. They have a shot. Their most recent EP, Map of the Soul: Persona, has topped charts in multiple countries, and the bouncy lead single — ‘Boy With Luv,’ featuring Halsey — has earned more than 500 million streams.”
Rolling Stone acknowledges BTS’ achievements respectfully and accurately and also acknowledges that they have just as much of a chance to earn a Grammy statue as anyone else on the potential shortlist due to these achievements.
The questions aren’t leading and don’t appear to have an underlying agenda. They aren’t asked in such a way as to lead the boys into a “trap” or back them into a corner. The questions are asked simply to gain answers, which is as it should be.
They even open the door to some new information and some additional “flavor text” on a few topics. The interviewer asks what they remember about their first stadium performance in Citi Field, and RM reveals that they had a picture printed of them all together at Citi Field which now hangs in the Big Hit building as their “main picture.” RM also says that Ed Sheeran, who collaborated on “Make It Right,” had called their label and wanted to give them a song as a present, which is a sweet anecdote to include, adding to the sweet narrative of the song itself.
Where the tone of other articles takes a scathing stance, this article sticks to its facts and doesn’t inject editorial commentary, which is a refreshing change of pace that makes this article one of the more useful in recent months.
Our Score
As with our previous installment of Check Yourself: Facts, we’re ranking this article on a scale of 1-5 based on tone, facts, substance, effort, and evidence of bias.
Our previous installment covered an article that didn’t even make it onto the scale, receiving a negative score. It’s no coincidence that we chose this article for our second installment - it’s the exact opposite:
💜💜💜💜
We decided that this article deserves a 4 out of 5 hearts - which is a massive improvement over the article we discussed in our first installment.
Achieving a perfect score will be incredibly difficult - and we are admittedly going to be very picky when it comes to this series. That being said, this article comes quite close. Could some questions have been worded slightly differently? Yes. Does it detract from the overall quality and usefulness of the article? No.
With the professional tone, general respect for the group and their achievements, and overall valid and valuable questions, Rolling Stone hits almost all the right notes, with that one question adding an asterisk to an almost perfect score.
Throughout this analysis, we found ourselves asking, “would I show this to someone who’s new to BTS?” This is actually a good rule of thumb when reading any article - would you show this to someone who is just getting into BTS or who is experiencing them for the first time?
Ultimately, we believe that the answer for this article is yes - yes, you could show this article to someone new to BTS. It would neither be harmful nor biased; neither too scathing to present decent facts nor too sugary to take seriously. It’s a very good place to start, if you’re just starting, and a good supplement if you’re a veteran.
With this article, Rolling Stone proves that with a little effort and some wise choices a news source can absolutely produce an article that’s respectful and informational as well as entertaining. They prove that it can be done. We can only hope that we see more of these types of articles in the coming months as more information is revealed about the boys’ impending comeback, and - dare we say? - their status as Grammy nominees.
DISCLAIMER: I do not own any audio & visual content in this video except for the editing. ALL RIGHTS BELONG TO THE RIGHTFUL OWNERS. No copyright infringement intended.
Written By: Anna Moon
Edit By: Aury
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