The currency of criticism

Openness. Honesty. Transparency. It sounds like a political manifesto mantra but as the industry comes under increasingly public scrutiny in terms of value for money, how open and honest should we be?

I’m not talking about dodgy deals or financial mismanagement, I am simply wondering how honest, open and transparent is our arts coverage?

• A theatre company told that a publication could not send anyone to review their show unless they bought advertising in the publication
• A theatre critic who talks of instructions from their editor to only write glowing reviews for ‘commercial considerations’
• A separate critic who recounts negative reviews not being published for fear of upsetting advertisers
• A venue who threatened to withdraw their advertising unless a less than glowing review was removed

Of course these may be isolated incidents and I’m not suggesting that the majority of arts coverage is anything but impartial, but if we lose the trust of our readership then what is the value in covering the arts?

This is a subject with no easy answer – publications need a constant feed of stories and articles to survive and arts organisations need the exposure that arts coverage brings. But for the consumer is it always clear when the words in front of them is nearer an ‘advertorial’ than a purely objective review?

With some publications publishing glowing copy for every single production they cover, can these be called reviews or just another form of advert? Paid for features carry the wording ‘Advertising Feature’. Perhaps reviews should also declare any advertising spend the production has with the organisation concerned.

As pressures on advertising revenue grows, so too does the temptation to allow the commercial to influence the editorial. But as those same pressures also tighten consumer spending, what are the long term impacts on both ticket sales and publication sales if audiences begin to feel they cannot rely on a review to aide their ticket buying choices? Do we need a £ advertising income rating alongside the star rating?