Changing film critics
August 14, 2008 at 3:05 pm by Wayne GarciaIt’s hit two blogs already, so I thought I would briefly mention our change at film critic as we will be using a CL staff film critic instead of freelancer Lance Goldenberg. We’re getting beat up pretty badly in The Feed and Scribe Life:
Yes, sure, the paper is likely to cite sound “financial” reasons for this decision. But, really, THIS from a publication that has regularly (and rightfully) taken local daily newspapers to task for the same type of decisions? Hmmmm.
Are the short-term savings really going to trump what CL will lose, over the long haul, in terms of its credibility as a reliable, authoritative source for quality arts and entertainment reporting?
Isn’t A/E reporting one of CL’s strengths?
I’m waiting to speak to our higher-ups about the change from Lance to a CL staff reviewer and will get you that info once I can.
UPDATE: Here’s what editor David Warner shared with the staff late today:
Dear CL Staff:
As some of you know, Lance Goldenberg will no longer be our weekly movie critic come September.
The news has been greeted with alarm in some quarters (including the St. Pete Times’ media blog). The concern is understandable. Lance has been a reliably expert voice on film in Tampa Bay for many years, one with an engaging writing style and a clear love for the medium.
However, Creative Loafing must deal with the fiscal realities that are facing everyone in the newspaper business. We have to find ways to economize while still bringing high-quality coverage to our readers.
As it happens, our recent expansion into Chicago and Washington, D.C. has accordingly expanded our access to talented writers and editors. Among them is J.R. Jones, an AAN award-winning, nationally recognized critic who has been the chief a film reviewer for the Chicago Reader for 11 years since 2002 and the chief reviewer since February. Like Lance, he has a strong, distinctive voice and a deep knowledge of film. Unlike Lance, who was a freelance reviewer throughout his time here, J.R. is a full-time staffer at the Reader, which means his reviews are available to other CL papers either free of charge or at a substantial reduction in expense.
We expect that with J.R.’s reviews, plus reviews by other CL critics and writers in Atlanta, Charlotte and Washington, we will be able to review more rather than fewer movies than we were able to do with one freelance writer.
In addition, we remain fiercely committed to reviewing and reporting on the local film scene and the many film festivals Creative Loafing has always covered in depth. Staff knowledge and enthusiasm for film is deep; please assure any readers or advertisers that this enthusiasm will continue unchanged. We as a paper believe in the importance of a thriving film scene to Tampa Bay’s cultural life.
We’re sorry that the relationship with Lance is coming to an end. But we’re excited about the new and expanded possibilities that have opened up to us.
Thanks for your understanding.
David
August 14th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I have long been a fan of Lance Goldenberg’s reviews. Please let us know where he lands.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:45 pm
So if a film is playing here but hasn’t been reviewed by the Chicago critic, it doesn’t get reviewed? And if some local folks have some movies, they just get handed to whomever at CL is available? No need for expertise, just, you know, google what you need to know.
CL is doing a disservice to the community.
August 14th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Ah yes, The Feed! What’s that they say about throwing rocks from glass houses?
I think all of us with “regular” jobs have known for years that you have to make yourself more valuable to avoid the budget-cutting buzzsaw, and there’s no room for divas in a downturn.
Do I understand correctly that Lance was getting paid full-time money for a part-time gig? Come on, man, this ain’t Hollywood!
One more thing: Where was all this outrage when Bob Ross got booted from the Trib?
August 15th, 2008 at 12:35 am
A correction to my statement about J.R. Jones: Though he has been employed by the Reader since 1997, he has been writing about movies only since 2002, winning a first-place award for his criticism in 2007 in the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ national competition.
Jonathan Rosenbaum was chief film critic at the Reader until he retired in February of this year.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:37 am
THIS IS A HUGE MISTAKE. CL WILL NEVER FIND ANOTHER FILM CRITIC (AT LEAST THAT THEY COULD AFFORD) WITH AS VAST AND VARIED KNOWLEDGE OF AND SENSITIVITY TO LITERALLY EVERY GENRE OF FILM. FURTHERMORE, LANCE GOLDENBERG’S INSIGHTFUL WIT, PERFECT CRITICAL EYE, AND ABILITY TO COMMUNICATE THE ESSENTIAL QUALITIES OF A FILM (BOTH GOOD AND BAD) TO THE AVERAGE JOE READER ,I BELIEVE ARE VIRTUALLY UNMATCHED. CL IS THROWING AWAY A RARE GEM FOR SOME CUBIC ZARCONIAN ERSTWHILE CRITICS.
August 15th, 2008 at 10:52 am
I think this is nothing short of travesty! Film appreciation in Tampa Bay is doomed. CL has chosen to usher Tampa Bay into the realms of mediocrity (as if this area needed any such push).
Lance’s voice, as a wittily playful writer and an unabashed “real” film critic, is one of the freshest in the nation –and let us not forget he was local.
Now that CL has removed the area’s only authority on films themselves or on local film happenings in the Bay (and now that some of the area’s local film festivals are outsourcing their festival programmers: see “Clip” for example), the Tampa film scene (or cinema culture) has seemingly all but vanished.
Thanks CL for another nail in the coffin! I will NEVER pick up another copy of what has clearly become a pandering rag.
August 15th, 2008 at 11:15 am
I edited a comment and wanted to explain why so you all don’t think I’m imposing some kind of CL censorship. One comment consisted of comments made over at The Feed blog pasted into our comments. Now, I’m not a copyright expert, but I pretty much am opposed to taking other folks’ content and making it look like our own. So I cut all but Brian’s own comment that he posted in both places.
You can read the rest of them at Eric’s excellent blog. He should get the page view for comments people make to his items, not me:
http://blogs.tampabay.com/media/2008/08/creative-loafin.html#comments
August 15th, 2008 at 11:56 am
In regards to coverage of local film series, i believe CL has many other talented folks who can step in when necessary.
personally, i never really connected with most of lance’s reviews.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:53 pm
Lance will be missed. It’s hard to find such a thoughtful, well-balanced film critic. He helped steer me towards some quality movied over the years, and at worst give me fair warning about the garbage.
Thanks for your work, Lance.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Sorry about the extraneous content attached to my comment…that was just a sloppy copy/paste job on my part resulting in an error that I only realized too late. You were correct to edit out the extra stuff and thanx for pointing readers to the other blog.
August 16th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
Just another reminder of where we are,Tampa a place of dead souls where nobody seems to care about anything relating to the arts;to let Lance Golderberg,the finest writer this paper ever had go, is downright depressing.
We should not be surprised, we can import mediocrity but we cannot keep the talented people that are making it their business to make life around us better and brighter.
this is very sad indeed.
Lance we owe you a lot,this place will be poorer without your writing,and CL should be ashamed.
I’ll never pick up a copy again.