The End of the Affair

From an article in the August/September 2007 American Journalism Review by Jennifer Dorroh

Squeezed for profits, newspapers send their staff film critics packing. Is this sound cost-cutting or a missed opportunity?

"My grandma's in town, is there anything I can take her to see?"

"You have already ruined this movie for me!"

"I won't see any film unless you recommend it."

"I disagree with you about every movie. I know if you like it, I won't."

Like the newspaper readers quoted above, almost everyone who has an opinion about movies also has an opinion about movie critics. We're grateful they convinced us to give "Knocked Up" a chance (or not). We share their love of (or disdain for) the "Spiderman" franchise. We agree (or take issue) with every word they've ever written about Quentin Tarantino or Angelina Jolie.

We care about what they write. But do we care where they write? When we crave a movie fix, does it matter whether the film review we read comes from New York, Los Angeles, Chicago or down the street?

A growing number of newspapers are betting that we don't care. Under pressure to increase profits, trim expenses and sharpen their focus on local topics to compete better online, they are jettisoning or shrinking their homegrown movie criticism.

Click here to read the rest of the article at ajr.org