Interesting question! For what it's worth, I got my first (and critical) job as a film critic, at the college paper at the age of 17, because I was best friends with the wife of the editor, at a moment when the regular film critic didn't show up. Some of the film critics I've worked with from major papers got their jobs by graduating from doing the TV listings or obits or something else like that at the newspapers. Some critics I've known have wanted to get into the business, and eventually did, often as scriptwriters. When I stopped doing regular criticism, after around 20 years of doing it for newspapers (Mn Daily, In These Times) and magazines (American Film) and for a host of free papers, magazines and journals, I was being paid the same or less than I was paid starting out ($25 a review) and there was a never ending supply of newbies with as little knowledge of film or film history as I had starting out, coming up and eager to write. Pat Aufderheide, Professor and Director Center for Social Media, School of Communication American University 3201 New Mexico Av. NW, #330 Washington, DC 20016-8080 www.centerforsocialmedia.org [log in to unmask] 202-885-2069 Lou Thompson <[log in to unmask]> Sent by: Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> 07/25/2008 08:24 PM Please respond to Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]> To [log in to unmask] cc Subject [SCREEN-L] film critics The announcement today that "Ebert and Roeper" were going off the air came at one of those serendipitous times for me, as I've been thinking a lot about film critics--who they are, where they come from, how (or if) they are trained or schooled. I was wondering if those of you on the list would be interested in sharing your list of the top film critics/reviewers (not scholars), past and present. __________________________ Lou Ann Thompson, Ph.D, Professor of English Texas Woman's University _____________________________ "One Law for the Lion and the Ox is Oppression."--William Blake _____________________________ "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."--Attributed to Edmund Burke _____________________________ "It could be worse. I could be Sting."--Ozzy Osbourne _____________________________ ---- Online resources for film/TV studies may be found at ScreenSite http://www.ScreenSite.org ---- For past messages, visit the Screen-L Archives: http://bama.ua.edu/archives/screen-l.html