Why so critical?

• Author: Saltzman, Joe
• Position: WORDS IMAGES

CRITICS ALWAYS SEEM to have been with us. The concept of a critic--a person offering reasoned judgment, analysis, interpretation, and observation--goes back to ancient Greece (and there probably were critics before that). We long have valued critics who write for magazines and newspapers---journalists professionally engaged in the analysis and interpretation of works of art, from music and literature to films and television programs.

From the beginning, it is has been the province of good critics, in the words of Martin Bernheimer, "to guard standards, stimulate debate, sharpen perspectives, and, in the complex process, reinforce the importance of art in society. They have been tastemakers and taskmasters, possibly ticket-sellers. Some have even written well. Despite automatic controversy, they played a role in aesthetic checks and balances. If their opinions were important, the reasons behind their opinions were more important. Good critics have always valued attention above agreement."

Bernheimer knows why critics are important. He influenced several generations of classical music listeners when he was the music and dance critic of the Los Angeles Times, where he won the Pulitzer Prize. He now covers music in New York for the Financial Times and Opera magazine. Bernheimer maintains that the Internet may be one of the reasons that critics are at risk of becoming extinct. "On the web anyone can impersonate an expert. Anyone can blog. Credentials don't count. All views are equal. Some sort of criticism may indeed survive the American media revolution, but professional criticism may not." He also goes after what he calls the "American Idolisation of culture" where "quality is measured by thumbs, up or down. Scholarly analyses have turned irrelevant, extravagances for snobs. The mob rules." He points out that many U.S. papers have abandoned thoughtful, detailed reviews for instant evaluations, "newsbites, preferably with flashy pictures. It is Zagat-think, simplicity for the simple-minded." He then offers chapter and verse proving his point--the collapse of classical music coverage and criticism, the 121 specialists covering music and dance, films, books, and television who no longer work for newspapers, the hiring of inexperienced freelance writers who are paid poorly by the piece, the reprinting of fired wire-service reports.

Times have changed. When you opened the entertainment section of the Los Angeles Times in the morning when Bernheimer...