Certain Critics

A question that's often asked of me is "are certain critics pushed, 
prodded, or paid to say good things about bad movies?"  The answer 
may be coming sooner than later as Internet news hound Matt Drudge 
(http://www.lainet.com/~drudge) has reportedly obtained a copy of 
entertainment reporter Glenn Lovell's story about how major movie 
studios (and their publicists) are strong-arming journalists.  The 
article is titled "Caught in the Machinery:  How Hollywood Subverts 
the Media" and reportedly details how the majors have put pressure 
on various media outlets, which has translated into everything from 
studios attempting to dictate the placement of stories to journal-
ists being ejected from press screenings for critical or unsched-
uled reviews.  According to Drudge, the Columbia Journalism Review 
is planning to publish the story this month and the L.A. Times also 
has it in their pipeline.  Sounds like "the year's best" reading to 
me. 

Copyright 1996 by Michael J. Legeros

Originally posted to triangle.movies in MOVIE HELL: December 8, 1996