http://www.newsobserver.com/105/story/1140023.html
Published: Jul 13, 2008 12:00 AM
Modified: Jul 13, 2008 01:52 AM
Best critics keep all of us honest
By Craig D. Lindsey, Staff Writer
In case you haven’t heard, criticism is under attack. And so far, the body count among film critics is high.
Between 2006 and now, more than 30 film critics of all types all over the country have quit, retired, been laid off, accepted buyouts or been reassigned. With the myriad reports of print journalism going through an Internet-induced, ad revenue-depleted, downward spiral, critics of all forms of arts and leisure — movies, books, music, dance — have been among the first to get the ax.
So far this year, film critics have been exiting at an alarming rate. In March, veteran Newsweek critic David Ansen and New York Newsday critics Jan Stuart and Gene Seymour accepted buyouts, while the independent Village Voice’s Nathan Lee was laid off. In May, The Washington Post’s head critics, Stephen Hunter and Desson Thomson, accepted buyouts and left their positions.
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Until now, the AP has in effect served two roles: breaking news and serving as the last — and definitive — word.Michael Calderone, and by extension AP as a whole, clearly shows kook sign by claiming the last word.