The newspaper and magazine industries have certainly felt the burn of the unsavory national economic climate, as have individual journalists who’ve seen their jobs covering specialized fields of film and popular culture terminated prematurely.
Two U.S. newsprint/online heavyweights who actively serve as watchdogs on the film industry globally are taking safety precautions to ensure economic stability, and are thus enforcing paid Web subscriptions. TheWrap reported that, starting in early 2010, Variety will hide its Web site behind a pay wall and The Hollywood Reporter, also expected to go subscription-only online, will abandon its print edition.
These are subscription-based trade newspapers that aim to eliminate free riders who mooch their online product by forcing them to pay to stay. Considering both papers already offered subscriptions for their primary service, the pay wall won’t be a huge issue — the details of the Web subscription still have to be clarified. However, THR’s decision to be an online-only news source will likely affect its reputation and impact.
Film critics Kurt Honeycutt and Todd McCarthy, among many other contributors to the dual trades, are seminal members of the film criticism community, and their readers inside and outside of Hollywood, will have to prove their allegiance to keep these journalists gainfully employed. Variety is essentially the Wall Street Journal of Tinsletown’s insider wheelings and dealings, so it’s hard to picture it MIA.
Both publications often access and review films before anyone else, beating the crowd to the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer page and guiding first impressions and expectations before the onslaught of subsequent reviews.
This was probably a tough decision for Variety to make, but it’s ultimately the right one since its veteran status and reliability has appropriately amassed it a loyal following. Hopefully, amid the financial downturn, it’ll secure its status and cement it for years to come.
How will coverage of the Hollywood film industry be affected by this?