"The video-which Tranter later took down-seemed like yet another sign that the art of reviewing the arts was in a strange state. This year has been grim for criticism: The Associated Press stopped reviewing books; Vanity Fair winnowed its critical staff; The New York Times reassigned veteran critics to other jobs; and Chicago-the city of Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel-lost its only remaining full-time print-media movie reviewer when the Chicago Tribune 's Michael Phillips took a buyout."
"A wave of recent essays has laid out the concerning implications of these developments. Social media, streaming algorithms, and AI are undermining the role that salaried experts once played. With the humanities and free speech under threat nationally, critical thinking itself can seem endangered. Pondering the things that entertain us-and what those things say about our world-requires a resource that's in short supply: attention spans."
Justin Tranter, a successful co-writer, expressed frustration with online music listeners behaving like critics and removed the controversial video. Major outlets reduced or reassigned critics: The Associated Press stopped book reviews, Vanity Fair cut critical staff, The New York Times reassigned veteran critics, and the Chicago Tribune lost its last full-time print movie reviewer. Social media, streaming algorithms, and AI are weakening the traditional role of salaried experts. The humanities and free speech face national pressures that imperil critical thinking. Despite institutional decline, platforms like TikTok, Instagram, Substack, Letterboxd, and podcasts show strong public demand for cultural commentary.
Read at The Atlantic
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]