April 6, 2005

AN OPEN LETTER TO POLITICAL BLOGGERS

The decline of mainstream entertainment journalism isn't the kind of topic you usually cover, but there is actually a connection to the current brouhaha over blogging and what constitutes journalism and the corruption in corporate media, so I hope you'll hear me out.

I'm a film critic. I've been reviewing films online -- a bit in print, too, but mostly online -- since 1997. There're lots and lots of people doing this online, like blogging, and as with bloggers, most of them aren't doing a very good job, but a few take it seriously and adhere to journalistic standards and ethics while also trying to shake the tree and turn out reviews that reflect a genuine love of and appreciation for film and are not merely the end product of corporate "synergy" between the Hollywood-studio and the New York-publishing arms of a global media empire. (I get the feeling from the work of many mainstream critics that they don't even *like* going to the movies, and much of what passes for film criticism these days in the "legitimate" press sounds suspiciously like PR.) Naturally, I count myself in this small group, with some justification: my site, FlickFilosopher.com, is one of the most popular and most respected film-review sites online. And since long before anyone every heard the word "blog," those of us who aren't just goofing around have been fighting for the respect we deserve.

But as with blogging, reviewing films in a way that can even begin to compete with established corporate-owned outlets isn't something that can be done as a weekend hobby -- it's a full-time job, and an unpaid one. (As popular as my site is, it doesn't come close the kind of traffic the popular political bloggers get, so advertising income is minuscule at best.) Two recent events convinced me that the time had come to gauge the put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is interest in independent film criticism. The first was the Jeff Gannon fiasco, the Internet's role in exposing him -- pun intended :-> -- the mainstream media's impotence, the resulting backlash against the bloggers who unraveled the story, and the willful misunderstanding and misrepresentation in the corporate media of what the Net did (and didn't do) here. The other event is Salon's recent firing one of its film critics, Charles Taylor, without warning or explanation -- I'd been depending upon Salon as a smart and not-evil voice, and this was a tremendous blow. On the one hand, the power of journalists working online and independently was confirmed, as was the terror it strikes in the heart of corporate media, while at the same time the fragility of indie journalists and indie outlets was revealed.

In light of all this, I approached my readers with a proposition: If 1000 of them (a tiny percentage of my overall readership) donated $30 to become a "micropatron" of my site, I'd be able to make the commitment of time and energy required to make FlickFilosopher.com an even more potent force for independent film criticism than it has become over the last seven and a half years.

The response so far has, frankly, been discouraging. If the pace I'm signing up micropatrons stays the same, I won't reach even 10 percent of the goal. I'd like to think that that's not an indication that there isn't an audience for noncorporate film criticism, but that not a large enough slice of that potential audience has heard about this yet. Because I suspect there's a great deal of overlap between the readers that you and I are appealing to, I'm hoping you'll consider bringing my project to your readers.

Granted, movies are a lot less important than the big stories you are uncovering and shedding light on. But if political bloggers like you are the generals in the battle to take back the free press in America, I consider myself a foot soldier. I think you'll agree that the *entire* media needs to be unfettered once again, and that there is a place for serious entertainment journalism with a fresh, unimpeded perspective.

Perhaps needless to say, the mainstream media doesn't seem interested in what I'm trying to do. So I'd love it if you could give me a mention. If not, I hope you'll drop by my site and enjoy a couple reviews.

Thanks for your consideration.

MaryAnn Johanson