The departed - No. 43, Betsy Pickle
Another local voice quieted: Betsy Pickle, critic for the Knoxville News-Sentinel for 23 years, who was one of 50 employees (13 from the newsroom) laid off from the Tennessee paper.On his movie blog, Orlando Sentinel movie critic Roger Moore (not to be confused with the former James Bond, who used to work at a rival paper in Knoxville, gives Pickle a good send-off - praising her tireless work ethic, her good humor and her willingness to pay her own way to movie junkets when her paper's travel budget ran out. Pickle also was a co-founder of the Southeastern Film Critics Association.
Two more names are being added to the list of The Departed, thanks to a tip from Christopher Lloyd, a writer at the Indianopolis Star (not the guy who played Doc Brown in the "Back to the Future" movies): The Indianapolis Star's movie critic, Bonnie Britton, who was reassigned to home and garden stories in fall 2006 and took a buyout in August 2007; and the Cincinnati Enquirer's movie critic, Margaret A. McGurk, who was reassigned to the city beat in the spring of 2006.
Here's the list in full:
1. Kevin Thomas, Los Angeles Times, buyout, 2006
2. Steve Ramos, Cincinnati CityBeat, position eliminated, April 2006
3. Margaret A. McGurk, Cincinnati Enquirer, reassigned, spring 2006
4. Jami Bernard, New York Daily News, contract not renewed, May 2006
5. Philip Wuntch, Dallas Morning News, buyout, fall 2006
6. Bonnie Britton, Indianapolis Star, reassigned, fall 2006
7. Dennis Lim, Village Voice, laid off, October 2006
8. Michael Atkinson, Village Voice, laid off, October 2006
9. Mark Burger, Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal, laid off, November 2006
10. Barbara Lester, CityLink (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.), position eliminated, early 2007
11. Bob Ross, Tampa Tribune, laid off, April 2007
12. Robert Denerstein, Rocky Mountain News, buyout, May 2007
13. Phoebe Flowers, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, reassigned, May 2007
14. Dave Gathman, Elgin (Ill.) Courier-News, staff reorganization, May 2007
15. Eleanor Ringel Gillespie, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, buyout, summer 2007
16. Jack Garner, Rochester (N.Y.) Democrat and Chronicle, retired, June 2007
17. Michael Wilmington, Chicago Tribune, quit, July 2007
18. Rob Nelson, City Pages (Minneapolis-St. Paul), position eliminated, August 2007
19. Matt Soergel, Florida Times-Union, reassigned, October 2007
20. Bruce Westbrook, Houston Chronicle, buyout, October 2007
21. Terry Lawson, Detroit Free Press, buyout, December 2007
22. Jack Mathews, New York Daily News, retired, December 2007
23. Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader, retired, December 2007
24. Ed Bradley, Flint (Mich.) Journal, buyout, January 2008
25. David Elliott, San Diego Union-Tribune, laid off, January 2008
26. Jan Stuart, Newsday, buyout, March 2008
27. Gene Seymour, Newsday, buyout, March 2008
28. Bruce Newman, San Jose Mercury News, reassigned, March 2008
29. Mary F. Pols, Contra Costa Times/Oakland Tribune, buyout, March 2008
30. Nathan Lee, Village Voice, laid off, March 2008
31. David Ansen, Newsweek, buyout, March 2008
32. Kevin Crust, The Los Angeles Times, buyout, March 2008
33. Glenn Kenny, Premiere, terminated, May 2008
34. Stephen Hunter, The Washington Post, buyout, May 2008
35. Desson Thomson, The Washington Post, buyout, May 2008
36. Hap Erstein, The Palm Beach Post, buyout, July 2008
37. Lance Goldenberg, Creative Loafing (Tampa Bay), laid off, August 2008
38. Bruce Bennett, New York Sun, paper ceases publication, October 2008
39. S. James Snyder, New York Sun, paper ceases publication, October 2008
40. Craig Outhier, East Valley Tribune (Mesa, Ariz.), laid off, October 2008 (effective January 2009)
41. Eric Harrison, Houston Chronicle, buyout, October 2008
42. Carina Chocano, The Los Angeles Times, laid off, October 2008
43. Betsy Pickle, Knoxville (Tenn.) News-Sentinel, laid off, November 2008
Labels: disappearing critics
1:49 PM
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4 Comments:
Well, I'll miss David Ansen, the two guys from the Village Voice, Michael Wilmington, Jonathan Rosenbaum, Glenn Kenny, and Jami Bernard. The rest I don't know.
While this growing list is certainly a shame, some of these guys (and gals) really needed to go. As a regular visitor to RottenTomatoes, I can tell you that Kevin Thomas (LA Times) was one of the worst film critics in recent memory. He was notorious for writing positive reviews for anything and everything, including House of the Dead, Glitter, Boat Trip, and Catwoman.
Seeing a full list of these fine critics whose voices I'll miss over time fills me with a degree of sadness for the industry. It was difficult over the last 30 years to get daily papers to understand the importance of cultural coverage and now that the biz is imploding, it's one of the first features to be discarded. Ironic, because culture's sway grows heavier in the 21st century and without analysts and critics to deconstruct these movements, we're awash in blogging commentary that's mostly sub-literate.
Carina Chocano was one of the worst film critics in the business. Good riddence!!!
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