For Georgette Gouveia, being honored with ArtsWestchester’s President’s Award represents more than a nod to what she’s accomplished during her career in journalism; it’s an affirmation that quality journalism still is welcomed at a time when some quarters vilify journalists as “enemies of the people” and dismiss their work as “fake.”
Gouveia has been in Westchester journalism for 43 years. She has covered the arts as senior culture writer for the Gannett newspapers, editor-in-chief of Westfair Communications’ WAG magazine, and now as luxury editor and cultural writer for Westfair’s Westchester and Fairfield County Business Journals and Westfair’s digital newsletters. The newsletters include “Wake Up With Westchester,” a Monday-through-Friday compilation of information to help readers get a good start on the day and plan experiences to make the most of it.
“No one has covered the arts in Westchester as well, or for as long, as she has,” ArtsWestchester said in announcing that Gouveia would receive the President’s Award during its Awards Luncheon on April 19 at the Brae Burn Country Club in Purchase.
ArtsWestchester continued, “In her time reporting on arts and culture, Gouveia has sought to explain the arts to others, particularly for those who have little connection to culture, and convey the arts”™ capacity to enlighten, inspire and entertain.”
“At Sarah Lawrence College, where I studied writing, I thought that I would go on and have this big career as a music and dance critic,” Gouveia said when the tables were turned and she became an interview subject. “The music and dance critics who taught at the school said, ‘You need to learn to be an economical writer. You need to become a newspaper reporter.'”
Gouveia said that between her 30 years at Gannett and joining Westfair Communications she took on some writing assignments for ArtsWestchester.
“I have to thank Janet Langsam of ArtsWestchester and Dee DelBello, publisher at Westfair, for believing in me at a time when my career could have gone a different way,” Gouveia said.
While most of her time is spent in the real-life and factual world of journalism, Gouveia also is a published novelist. Her blog and book series, “The Games Men Play,” considers the power dynamic in culture. Her newest book ”“ the historical thriller “Riddle Me This” (JMS Books) ”“ explores the tensions between East and West, and men and women, as it plumbs Puccini”™s opera “Turandot,” its origin story and a tale of industrial espionage and romantic intrigue that mirrors the opera”™s plot.
“I always wrote fiction from the time I was very young, but I never made a concerted effort to publish it. Maybe I lacked the courage,” Gouveia said. “Still, even when I got into journalism with Gannett, I continued to write fiction on the side. My late aunt, Mary Violino, who raised me and introduced me to books, always said it was my destiny to be writer. When she died I said to myself, ‘You’ve got to be a novelist and publish these books.'”
Gouveia said that fiction writing has helped her in writing nonfiction.
“I’m always interested in the ‘why’ of people. I’m very interested in what makes them tick.” She recalled attending a lecture at Sarah Lawrence given by author and editor E. L. Doctorow, who said, “If you don’t know something in fiction you can make it up.”
“You can’t do that in journalism,” Gouveia added.
She said that as a young reporter she interviewed author Norman Mailer, who told her that as a fiction writer you need not only to write the book but to market it.
“He said it in such a way to suggest that the harder job was marketing the book,” she said.
Gouveia has seen changes over the years in news content to include more opinion pieces with commentary sometimes disguised as hard news, which she considers at a minimum unprofessional if not entirely unethical. She said it’s very different to give your opinion about a work of art when writing as a critic than it is to put your opinion about pending legislation in a news story.
“What I want to do is ultimately come back to the facts. The reader is the person that we’re serving,” Gouveia said. “What does the reader need to know? Have I checked every source? You always need to come back to the facts.”
She said that the U.S. democracy becomes imperiled when the country has less and less local news and she added that in many instances there is not the support that there should be for local publications.
“Like many sectors of our society and many industries we are now at an inflection point in the news business,” Gouveia said. “The digital world and the lack of leadership have put us in a situation where we’re no longer driving the bus. It’s all about feeding the digital beast and advertising. We’ve seen the diminution of many newspapers ”“ especially local newspapers ”“ and that”™s a critical loss, because local news is really the backbone of democracy.”
Gouveia said that ArtsWestchester has always been a great partner to local publications. Such partnerships are particularly important at this key moment for the arts.
“All of the arts find themselves in a culture war, whether it’s political correctness on the left or on the right an attack on the LBGTQ+ community,” Gouveia said. “But we”™re also seeing a moment when minorities are beginning to recognize themselves in the arts, and I think that’s incredibly important.”
While she added that ArtsWestchester’s President’s Award is a bit like a lifetime achievement award, “I don”™t think of it as an end. I think of it as another beginning.”
For more, visit thegamesmenplay.com
