The Decline and Fall of Reviewing (again)

As cut-backs in movie and book reviewers happen in more and more publications, cultural critics are left to scratch their head over what’s to be done and how to shore up the field.  This story line kept popping up before the recent layoffs, going back to the pros vs. bloggers wars that have been played out in the last few years.  No surprise that this is going to continue to play out and that there’s continual hand wringing over it- one of the best articles was this one from the Hartford Courant.  I also particularly liked this review from the New Republic, which notes the pitfalls of the life of the reviewer and some sage ideas about how to maybe save and cultivate the profession.