film critic lance goldenberg no longer with tampa’s creative loafing
tampafilmfan“We don’t have a mandate to share editorial. We’re so local in our orientation, it’s never made any sense to do it that way. I think we’ve got six or seven film critics around the company now. If you put your efficiency hat on, could one film reviewer do the same job for everybody? Perhaps, but that connection to film and the local community is something I’m proud of. I’m (more interested in trying) something that really takes this talent and creates a national Web site out of it.” — Ben Eason, Creative Loafing CEO, in an interview with St. Petersburg Times’ TV/media critic Eric Deggans discussing Creative Loafing’s purchase of The Chicago Reader and the Washington City Paper; published August 19, 2007.
After those assurances made almost exactly one year ago, Creative Loafing has let film critic Lance Goldenberg go.
Local writer Philip Booth broke the story Thursday with an eloquently angry post on his blog Scribe Life. That same day, St. Pete Times’ TV/media critic Eric Deggans blogged about his disappointment at hearing the news in a post on his blog The Feed. Deggans’ post included quotes from both Goldenberg and CL editor David Warner, as well as the full statement issued by Warner.
Acknowledging both of those blog posts and the overwhelming support Goldenberg received in comments on both blogs, CL writer Wayne Garcia posted briefly – almost begrudgingly – about Goldenberg’s departure on the CL blog Political Whore. Garcia’s blog post included a statement from CL editor David Warner, who said that the concern about this news is understandable because “Lance has been a reliably expert voice on film in Tampa Bay for many years.”
In his published statements (on Political Whore and The Feed) and his blog comments (on The Feed and Scribe Life), Warner explained that CL’s decision to release Goldenberg – who has been a freelance writer for CL, not a full-time CL employee, all these years – was based on “the fiscal realities that are facing everyone in the newspaper business.” Warner assured readers and advertisers (smart move on Warner’s part to be concerned with advertisers, because they ultimately control the fiscal realities in the newspaper industry) of CL’s commitment “to reviewing and reporting on the local film scene and the many film festivals Creative Loafing has always covered in depth.”
I have so many questions and comments that I don’t know where to begin.
I suppose I should start by acknowledging my discomfort in writing about this topic. I’m a blogger, remember, so technically I’m part of the newspaper industry’s problem in the first place. (I’ll save that discussion for another blog post.) However, I hate reading about the exodus of film/book/art/music critics over the past year or so. (33 film critics since January 2006, according to The Movie Cricket.)
I spent several hours today writing a long article about this, going through all my questions and reactions point by point. After re-reading my final draft, I realized that it didn’t work and deleted it. All of the thoughts that have been swirling in my head since I first read about Goldenberg’s departure relate to one central concern:
Will Creative Loafing continue to write about, support, critique and draw attention to local films, filmmakers, film festivals and theaters?
I certainly hope so, but Creative Loafing’s track record has me a little worried. The same week that Tampa’s CL let Lance Goldenberg go, Atlanta’s Creative Loafing laid off senior editor Scott Freeman and senior arts writer (and occasional film reviewer) David Lee Simmons. Jonathan Rosenbaum, head film critic for the Chicago Reader, retired in February after 21 years. Art/film critic Felicia Feaster left Creative Loafing in Atlanta in April. The Chicago Reader lost several talented, dedicated staff writers in December.
Hopefully, the national advertising agency Creative Loafing signed on with recently can bring in those crucial advertising dollars.
When long-time writers like Goldenberg depart, readers notice the difference. Readers also notice when a paper loses some of its local focus or replaces thoughtful critical analysis with brief infotainment sound bytes.
Local film fans will be watching. I certainly will be, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
(cross-posted at www.tampafilmfan.com)
Tags: Creative Loafing, film, local, media, newspaper
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August 18th, 2008 at 9:42 am
Good post …
But first of all, you don’t let go freelancers. You just end your association with them. The writer in question was never an employee of CL, but instead a contractor.
I do hope that film events and such locally will still be covered, but I do agree with this move. There is nothing really different that a local movie reviewer can give a worldwide released film that someone else can’t provide otherwise.
Local film festival coverage and productions — yes, local guy. Movie reviews from a national and international level? No need for local guy.
I honestly think there’s something more to get all worked up about besides a movie critic, don’t you think?
August 18th, 2008 at 9:47 am
Hey, just to clarify: My position was Senior Arts Writer at the time of my departure from Creative Loafing. I had spent the previous two years as A&E Editor.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:15 pm
@Booyah — Thanks for the feedback. It took me a while to decide to use “let go” in this post. Scribe Life used “fired”; The Feed, WMNF and the Movie Cricket used “laid off”; and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies used “let go” on its site. Goldenberg’s title on the CL staff page is “film critic” and that’s how the local community has known him for years. He’s been credited, listed and promoted as CL’s film critic for all these years, not as a long-term freelancer who just happened to write most of the film reviews. This is reason for the strong reaction in the blog comments sections of the blogs I referenced…despite the specifics of his arrangement with CL, Lance Goldenberg WAS the CL film critic. I understand your point, but I think “let go” is appropriate here.
Re: other things to get all worked up about besides a movie critic: Of course there are numerous other things — more important things — going on in the world right now that deserve attention. Like everyone else, I care about a lot of different issues. For me, one of those issues is the local film community, which is why I write about it so often.
@David — Thanks for the correction. I’ve changed it here and on my own blog. Sorry about that.
August 18th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Understandable, Lisa … but at the same time, we don’t know if this will affect local film coverage.
I just don’t think we need a local guy to give the same copy that can be had from a national guy. What local perspective could be added to a review of “The Dark Knight” or “Tropical Thunder”?
August 18th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Whenever a local voice is replaced with a national one, it’s like trading a local cafe con leche for a Starbucks latte, or swapping a Silver Ring for a Subway, or Inkwood Books for Barnes & Noble. Each time we lose a local guy (or mom & pop) and we’re left with a national guy (or chain), we lose a bit of our hometown personality and become more like everywhere else.
So I see this as a loss for the community. But it also looks like a wrong direction for that paper. If CL becomes less Tampa-flavored and more everywhere-vanilla, how can it compete with all the everywhere news & views we can get anywhere?
Besides, I’ve long been a fan of Lance Goldenberg’s reviews, and I’ll miss him a lot.