Read this. In this season of stories about artists to watch in the year ahead, PIOTR ORLOV's provocative essay about the ethics of music journalism—who we choose to cover, who we choose not to cover, what inconvenient details we write around or simply leave out, what signals we boost, what signals we miss—is a timely, important gut check. Especially for editors and writers but also for anyone in the business of musical signal boosting, which applies to circles well beyond the media audience the essay is aimed at. "What kind of stories are being pursued/assigned? From what angle? And what are their merits?" RIYETA (recommended if you ever think about): ARIEL PINK, JOHN MAUS, TEKASHI6IX9INE, KANYE WEST, DOMINICK FERNOW, JOHN LENNON, MILES DAVIS... Meanwhile in the charged environment of Washington, D.C., in January 2021, which is where the above essay partly takes place, MADONNA found herself name-checked at Wednesday's impeachment hearing, because who hasn't contemplated blowing up the White House after a pop star literally explains at a women's rally why she wouldn't do that. And TAYLOR SWIFT's name was invoked 24 hours earlier in a lengthy discussion at the SUPREME COURT about asking for nominal damages, like the one dollar Swift was awarded in 2017 when she successfully sued a Denver radio DJ who groped her before a concert. Swift wanted justice, not money, and it appears she may have helped establish a legal precedent in doing so. Three Supreme Court justices spoke approvingly of Swift's motives in an unrelated case involving students who say GEORGIA GWINNETT COLLEGE violated their free-speech rights. They suffered no monetary damages but they want a judgment against the school. Swift's principled stand may help them, and future plaintiffs in similar situations, get it. (Hopefully she also established a precedent of DJs not groping singers before concerts.) In a dark room in the White House, unlit by any kind of public announcement or media presence, PRESIDENT TRUMP on Wednesday awarded the National Medal of Arts to bluegrass mandolin master RICKY SKAGGS and country singer/songwriter TOBY KEITH, which we know about only because Bloomberg News broke the news in a tweet quoting unnamed sources, which is a weird thing to need unnamed sources for but, hey, January 2021. A year ago, when the administration was willing to publicize these things, the same honor was bestowed on ALISON KRAUSS, in case you're wondering about the president's bluegrass bona fides (disclaimer: I am in fact wondering). In a more well lit part of Washington, the KENNEDY CENTER, whose annual HONORS the current president has never attended, announced that this year's honorees will include GARTH BROOKS, JOAN BAEZ and MIDORI. Instead of the usual live tribute gala, this year's show will consist of several days of filmed performances—and, the Kennedy Center hopes, the first White House reception for the honorees in five years... LADY GAGA will sing the national anthem at JOE BIDEN and KAMALA HARRIS' inauguration on Jan. 20... New York's WINTER JAZZFEST, which kicked off Wednesday night, will be held across three months this year, entirely online and entirely free. Tonight, TERRI LYNE CARRINGTON, MAUREEN MAHON and SAMORA PINDERHUGHES discuss "Jazz & Gender," and on Friday, BRANDEE YOUNGER, LAKECIA BENJAMIN and others perform a tribute to DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.... RIP VANILLA FUDGE and BECK, BOGERT & APPICE bassist TIM BOGERT, Mexican hip-hop manager/promoter ALEX MALVERDE and British skiffle star JOHN PILGRIM.