A good read in the December 6, 2007 issue of Time Out New York about the roll of bloggers and the intersection with traditional critics. The article starts with “Opinions are like…Now that cranking out a blog is easier than getting a library card, what does this new panoply of voices means for the institution of criticism?”

Q: We’re at this crossroads, where print and online content are intertwined, and no one’s sure how it will all shake out. So, deep breath: What’s the essential question facing the future of criticism?

A: Alex Ross, music critic, The New Yorker; blogger and author, The Rest Is Noise
The growth of online criticism means that the conversation about various art forms is widening. With huge gaps opening in arts coverage in the mainstream media—in classical we’ve seen the almost total disappearance of criticism from national publications—blogs and websites have allowed the conversation to go on. The essential question is whether critics are doing their utmost to make the art come alive for readers.

Link to Time Out article