Count me among the relatively small group of people that thinks the loss of critics (sparked by the cost cutting and imminent closing of many newspapers) is a bad thing.
The arts needs good critical voices because those voices help consumers to make informed decisions about what to see (and avoid).
More importantly, a critic with a strong reputation is one of the vehicles I have seen (outside of audience word of mouth) that can convince someone to take a risk on an entire new artistic organization . . . or occasionally an entirely new art form.
Now I know in this tech advanced word we can replace your newspapers local critic with 100 online critics, but it may take a while (if ever) for any of those critics to develop the credibility need to drive a substantial audience in one direction or another.
Plus, losing critical voices tends to hurt smaller arts organizations that need a good, widely read, review to build audience for their work.
If I were those smaller orgs, I would start reaching out and supporting a few of the good online art critics. I'd make sure they came to my shows, I would give them info to report, maybe even buy an ad or two on their site (if they are into that sort of thing).
Trust me, you need a few of those critics with a small audience to become critics with a large audience . . . so don't be afraid to help them on their way.
It's difficult to do a media buy on sites run by smaller critics because there's not enough separation between editorial and advertising with them. In many cases,the same person writing the reviews is who you'd be cutting a check to for clicks if you advertised on their site. If these sites eventually evolve the level of separation necessary, then advertising with them should be considered.
Posted by: Ed | January 12, 2009 at 02:37 PM
While I agree with Ed's hesitation, I couldn't agree more that losing good critics means losing ground with the way the public sees our entire industry. I don't think you're alone in thinking that, Adam... Any metacriticsm of theater critics in the past few years has largely focused on improving the quality of criticism in the traditional media, not replacing it.
While bloggers often are replacing the traditional print media's role in public dialogue, I know of very few theater bloggers who think that's an awesome thing in the short term. Any time a community loases an advocate, that's a bad day.
Posted by: Nick Keenan | January 16, 2009 at 08:58 PM