Time to Celebrate, Not Belittle, Golden Globes

What is it with columnist Brian Lowry and other Los Angeles Times writers and the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn.? Here we have a city that prides itself as the world’s entertainment capital and houses what is probably the most successful and best-known organization of foreign

correspondents in the world--and all the leading local paper can do is lampoon us again and again.

The latest example is Lowry’s piece on the Emmys (“What Goes on Behind Emmy’s Doors,” Aug. 10), in which he snickers about “the sheer absurdity” of our Golden Globe Awards, claims that one article “published pretty much anywhere” will make you a member of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. (HFPA) and that “whoever hosts the most impressive press junket wins.”

I am the first one to agree that award shows are not rocket science, but as a longtime staff correspondent of a leading European newspaper publisher, a past member of the London and New York foreign press associations and a member of the HFPA for 27 years, I take exception when a fellow writer is allowed to be so nasty, so jingoistic and so misinformed.

I assure you that it takes considerably more than one article (does “published pretty much anywhere” imply that is less worthy than “here”?) to become and remain an active member of the HFPA. I also find the remark about press junkets (which are attended by more representatives of domestic publications than HFPA members) ridiculous and condescending. We pay for our own travel, and if anyone thinks that a T-shirt with the title of a film printed on it and a buffet lunch can make up for the fact that most of the major junkets take place on weekends, he or she has never been to a junket.

For those who have not noticed, the HFPA has come a long way since it was founded 57 years ago, and nowadays not only employs a permanent staff but also is the owner of its own building, thanks to the success of the Golden Globes. It has also been able to donate more than $1 million toward film preservation and other worthy causes in the past three years.

There is a lot at stake for us, and we would never jeopardize it by being as stupid as Lowry implies and allowing marketing strategies to influence our votes.

As to the award shows: Aren’t they one of the major factors for the worldwide fascination with Los Angeles and the incredible boom that the local entertainment industry has experienced, to the benefit of all citizens? Why put down one of the top three awards telecasts in the world and what is renowned as the “party of the year”? In my opinion, that is something that should be celebrated, not denigrated.

Helmut Voss is president of the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. and West Coast bureau chief of Springer Publishing Corp. of Germany.