WaPo Critics Weigh In on Their Own Relevance

As Washington Post critics Ann Hornaday (NAJP fellow '94-'95), Ron Charles, Peter Marks, Tom Shales and J. Freedom du Lac consider -- some more seriously than others -- whether critics still matter, Marks makes an important connection: "Drama criticism retains some outsize influence: Because theater tickets are more costly than movie admission, playgoers tend to be older and more attentive to newspapers, and theatergoing in general is more of a niche pursuit."

It also tends to be, as he points out, a local pursuit. Theater is not dying, regardless of the Chicken Littles who every so often screech about its doom. But what happens to theaters when local newspapers disappear, taking their critics with them?

July 1, 2009 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)