Introduction: The critical condition

Illustration: Nathan Huang

A few weeks ago, something interesting happened in the world of New York criticism—and proved a vivid example of the ongoing us-versus-them mentality between print and Web.

Spurred by the writers’ strike, New York Times theater critic Charles Isherwood wrote an essay addressed to playwrights-turned-TV-writers, begging them to stop “lying on the couch in Hollywood perfecting their video-game scores” and return to write for the stage. “Whatever the inspiration, you dreamed the dream,” he continued. “And then you lost your way.”

The next day, Brothers & Sisters creator Jon Robin Baitz, one of the playwrights Isherwood had singled out, blogged a response on The Huffington Post. Writers aren’t playing games, he wrote, “they are on the picket lines…figuring out what to do about mortgages”—and he went on to call Isherwood “waspish, dismissive, cool and brittle.”

The vitriolic reply was picked up by the New York Post and Gawker, as well as theater blogs everywhere, including the popular Parabasis (parabasis.typepad.com), where critic Isaac Butler went on to attack Isherwood for another column, too. “The time has come” to fire or reassign him, Butler wrote in an open letter to the newspaper, while a reader posted in response: “Just more evidence that the NYT is way out of touch.”

Soon, online critics were critiquing the critique of the critique. Isherwood’s opinion had become a story unto itself.

Of course, he wasn’t fired over the din—“If you look at the theater websites, yes, it looks like it’s caused a huge fanfare,” Isherwood tells us. “But the reality is, it’s a small slice of the world, as of yet.” Still, the ruckus was further proof that the pendulum between print critics and their online counterparts—be they “critics,” or playwrights or ordinary opinionated people—is swinging even faster. So where will it stop? If everyone’s voice is heard, which is where we appear to be headed, who will make an impact?

To find out, we asked our favorite New York print critics and critic-bloggers (including our own staffers) about the new business of opinion. We wondered, What are the essential questions facing criticism today? How can we know whom to trust? And how can you join the club?

For the record: Our queries were sent via e-mail, in the interest of efficacy, and critics were not compensated for their responses—a fact that didn’t please everyone. Two weeks ago, one unnamed print scribe sent the questions to Gawker, which quickly posted an annotated version critiquing our questions, while commenters wrote stuff like, “I’m excited that Time Out New York is doing a deep think piece about the convergence of online and print criticism. It will go nicely with their ‘10 Cheapest Hot Dogs Below 14th Street’ feature in the upcoming January issue.” Yes, in today’s world, stories are critiqued before they’re written. The pendulum swings faster every day.

—Michael Freidson

Starring:
Charles Isherwood, theater critic, The New York Times; Aaron Riccio, editor, culture blog That Sounds Cool; Alex Ross, music critic, The New Yorker, blogger and author, The Rest Is Noise; A.O. Scott, film critic, The New York Times; Darcy James Argue, editor, music-and-culture blog Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society; Garrett Eisler, editor, theater blog The Playgoer; Lizzie Skurnick, editor, books blog Old Hag; Andy Horwitz, editor, Culturebot; Isaac Butler, critic, theater blog Parabasis; Charlie Finch, critic, Artnet; Linda Stasi, TV critic, New York Post; Dalton Ross, editor-at-large, Entertainment Weekly; Stephanie Zacharek, film critic, Salon.com; Michael Feingold, chief theater critic, The Village Voice; Adam Buckman, TV columnist, New York Post; Douglas Wolk, critic, author, Reading Comics, blogger, Lacunae; Dwight Garner, book critic, The New York Times and its Paper Cuts blog

And more