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As the article mentions, complaining about this is like pissing on a forest fire. While critics are supposed to be objective, efforts to isolate them from public opinion are pointless and irrelevant. A sports ref or umpire is supposed to be objective, but they still listen to the crowd cheer or boo as they call a strike or pass interference. A reviewer is responsible for him/herself and they can choose to seek some public opinion or not. Their position as a critic gives them the responsibility to write a fair objective review, but hearing what others have to say is no guarantee that they will not be able to accomplish that. The critic is going to see the strengths and weaknesses of a show eventually, anyway. By isolating them from the opinions of others, producers cannot trick them into thinking a show that just doesn’t work is a smashing success. If audiences are posting on blogs that they are decidedly unimpressed by a show, the show clearly is not doing what it is supposed to be doing. In this case, the show doesn’t deserve a good review. Fix the show, don’t try to trick the critic.
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As the article mentions, complaining about this is like pissing on a forest fire. While critics are supposed to be objective, efforts to isolate them from public opinion are pointless and irrelevant. A sports ref or umpire is supposed to be objective, but they still listen to the crowd cheer or boo as they call a strike or pass interference.
A reviewer is responsible for him/herself and they can choose to seek some public opinion or not. Their position as a critic gives them the responsibility to write a fair objective review, but hearing what others have to say is no guarantee that they will not be able to accomplish that.
The critic is going to see the strengths and weaknesses of a show eventually, anyway. By isolating them from the opinions of others, producers cannot trick them into thinking a show that just doesn’t work is a smashing success. If audiences are posting on blogs that they are decidedly unimpressed by a show, the show clearly is not doing what it is supposed to be doing. In this case, the show doesn’t deserve a good review. Fix the show, don’t try to trick the critic.
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