The departed
Movie critics who write for print publications are "on the endangered species list," proclaimed a headline in The New York Times on Tuesday.
To which the Movie Cricket replies, "Welcome to the party, folks."
The Cricket has been writing about this particular issue for awhile, and he is happy that the New York media - whose collective sun rises and sets in their own navels - is realizing that it's happening to them, too.
As his contribution to the discussion, the Cricket has been compiling a list of the movie critics who have lost their jobs - to retirement, layoffs, buyouts or reassignments - in the last two years.
In compiling the list, the Cricket did not include critics who died over that period (a list that includes "Good Morning America's" Joel Siegel and the Arizona Republic's Bill Muller) or critics whose print publications were shot out from under them (e.g., Glenn Kenny, who continues at Premiere.com now that Premiere magazine has folded).
The Cricket expresses gratitude to the critics he asked to peruse the list and suggest additions. But the list is by no means complete, and the Cricket welcomes any and all comments on who should be included (or excluded).
Here, then, is the list of movie critics who have left or are leaving their jobs:
1. Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times, buyout, 2006
2. Steve Ramos, Cincinnati CityBeat, position eliminated, April 2006
3. Jami Bernard, New York Daily News, contract not renewed, May 2006
4. Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News, buyout, fall 2006
5. Dennis Lim, Village Voice, laid off, October 2006
6. Michael Atkinson, Village Voice, laid off, October 2006
7. Mark Burger, Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal, laid off, November 2006
8. Barbara Lester, CityLink (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), position eliminated, early 2007
9. Bob Ross, Tampa Tribune, laid off, April 2007
10. Robert Denerstein, Rocky Mountain News, buyout, May 2007
11. Phoebe Flowers, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, reassigned, May 2007
12. Dave Gathman, Elgin (Ill.) Courier-News, staff reorganization, May 2007
13. Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, buyout, summer 2007
14. Jack Garner, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle, retired, June 2007
15. Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune, quit, July 2007
16. Rob Nelson, City Pages (Minneapolis-St. Paul), position eliminated, August 2007
17. Matt Soergel, Florida Times-Union, reassigned, October 2007
18. Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press, buyout, December 2007
19. Jack Mathews, New York Daily News, retired, December 2007
20. Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader, retired, December 2007
21. Ed Bradley, Flint (Mich.) Journal, buyout, January 2008
22. David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune, laid off, January 2008
23. Jan Stuart, Newsday, buyout, March 2008
24. Gene Seymour, Newsday, buyout, March 2008
25. Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News, reassigned, March 2008
26. Mary F. Pols, Contra Costa Times/Oakland Tribune, buyout, March 2008
27. Nathan Lee, Village Voice, laid off, March 2008
28. David Ansen, Newsweek, buyout, March 2008
UPDATE (Thursday): Two names - a sports columnist and an editor - were put on the list in error, and have been deleted. Mark Burger, formerly of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal, has been added. More names have been submitted, and will be added once confirmed.
UPDATE (Friday): Two more confirmed names for the list: Barbara Lester at CityLink (a Fort Lauderdale alt-weekly run by the Sun-Sentinel) and Ed Bradley at the Flint (Mich.) Journal.
To which the Movie Cricket replies, "Welcome to the party, folks."
The Cricket has been writing about this particular issue for awhile, and he is happy that the New York media - whose collective sun rises and sets in their own navels - is realizing that it's happening to them, too.
As his contribution to the discussion, the Cricket has been compiling a list of the movie critics who have lost their jobs - to retirement, layoffs, buyouts or reassignments - in the last two years.
In compiling the list, the Cricket did not include critics who died over that period (a list that includes "Good Morning America's" Joel Siegel and the Arizona Republic's Bill Muller) or critics whose print publications were shot out from under them (e.g., Glenn Kenny, who continues at Premiere.com now that Premiere magazine has folded).
The Cricket expresses gratitude to the critics he asked to peruse the list and suggest additions. But the list is by no means complete, and the Cricket welcomes any and all comments on who should be included (or excluded).
Here, then, is the list of movie critics who have left or are leaving their jobs:
1. Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times, buyout, 2006
2. Steve Ramos, Cincinnati CityBeat, position eliminated, April 2006
3. Jami Bernard, New York Daily News, contract not renewed, May 2006
4. Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News, buyout, fall 2006
5. Dennis Lim, Village Voice, laid off, October 2006
6. Michael Atkinson, Village Voice, laid off, October 2006
7. Mark Burger, Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal, laid off, November 2006
8. Barbara Lester, CityLink (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), position eliminated, early 2007
9. Bob Ross, Tampa Tribune, laid off, April 2007
10. Robert Denerstein, Rocky Mountain News, buyout, May 2007
11. Phoebe Flowers, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, reassigned, May 2007
12. Dave Gathman, Elgin (Ill.) Courier-News, staff reorganization, May 2007
13. Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, buyout, summer 2007
14. Jack Garner, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle, retired, June 2007
15. Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune, quit, July 2007
16. Rob Nelson, City Pages (Minneapolis-St. Paul), position eliminated, August 2007
17. Matt Soergel, Florida Times-Union, reassigned, October 2007
18. Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press, buyout, December 2007
19. Jack Mathews, New York Daily News, retired, December 2007
20. Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader, retired, December 2007
21. Ed Bradley, Flint (Mich.) Journal, buyout, January 2008
22. David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune, laid off, January 2008
23. Jan Stuart, Newsday, buyout, March 2008
24. Gene Seymour, Newsday, buyout, March 2008
25. Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News, reassigned, March 2008
26. Mary F. Pols, Contra Costa Times/Oakland Tribune, buyout, March 2008
27. Nathan Lee, Village Voice, laid off, March 2008
28. David Ansen, Newsweek, buyout, March 2008
UPDATE (Thursday): Two names - a sports columnist and an editor - were put on the list in error, and have been deleted. Mark Burger, formerly of the Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal, has been added. More names have been submitted, and will be added once confirmed.
UPDATE (Friday): Two more confirmed names for the list: Barbara Lester at CityLink (a Fort Lauderdale alt-weekly run by the Sun-Sentinel) and Ed Bradley at the Flint (Mich.) Journal.
Labels: disappearing critics
9:26 AM
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5 Comments:
Sean,
Colleague and friend Mark Burger lost his reviewing gig at the Winston-Salem Journal when the paper recently decided it didn't need a full-time critic. I forget the time frame, but it was recent enough that he belongs on this list.
Keep fighting the fight.
This is SO sad, especially for a teen film critic like me - there is no hope in hell I will ever be a print critic now, is there???
Not a chance.
I hope the amount of names you add to this list decreases soon...
What the hell... Argh... When I first started Rotten Tomatoes, these are some of the first critics I used. It's so sad to see, but the best of luck to their future endeavors.
Sean, you're one of the first ones too :) I still remember culling quotes from your reviews on Film.com a long, long time ago...
It's part of the dumbing-down, not so much of America, but of newspaper proprietors. As they face hard times, they are more and more eager to pander to the their "base," which I suspect comes down to those readers who don't care how much read-worthy content disappears so long as they can find their horoscopes, lottery numbers, favorite comics, the morning line at the track, and Celeb Nuggets. After all what kind of reader wouldn't prefer to read about the DUI arrest of a big star than learn that the star's latest movie is probably the reason he got drunk?
Maybe it's a favor, at least for the SL Trib it would be. It would appear that the critic was having respiratory problems, judging from the frequent choice of adjectives used to describe films currently listed: "suffocates" & "suffocated" (yes, both in one paragrapgh of one film); in others- "claustrophobic ", & "wheezy"... wheezy??? Really? The only time I'd ever rate a film as "wheezy" is when I've forgotten my asthma inhaler and the movie is so damn funny I nearly die laughing (for real).
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