Indulge us, if you will
A week from today, I'll be wending my way to Pasadena to work the TV critics' tour. The trade weekly TelevisionWeek decided to cast its spotlight on TCA press tour and how it's faring in an era of industry belt-tightening:
Link: TV Week. (free registration required)
I can't blame Chris Lisotta for focusing on Knight Ridder, given the
recent tumult at the company. However, I would like to point out that
the Philadelphia Inquirer is sending a critic to TCA tour --
they just don't get to send two this time. Meanwhile, other Knight
Ridder papers including the San Jose Mercury News, Charlotte Observer, Akron Beacon Journal, Contra Costa, Philly Daily News, and of course, the Kansas City Star will all be representing at tour. Gannett and Tribune will send multiple crix as well.
And then next month all these papers will send writers to cover the
Super Bowl. I can guarantee you right now, the TV critics are going to
deliver as much high-quality copy as the sportswriters -- and given
that the act on stage changes often, sometimes hourly during the cable
portion of tour, we'll have a lot more variety, not to mention Variety.
Tom Shales weighs in with a nicely over-the-top sui generis defense of TV criticism. Rounding out the package, the editors of TV Week,
who certainly don't have to defend 200 outsiders horning in on their
turf twice a year (though they would like us to keep taking part in
their twice-yearly TV Critics' Poll), speak out for TCA in an elegant
editorial:
