Our full-time movie critic (Shawn Levy) has been gone for more than a year, but this week we said goodbye to our theater critic, Marty Hughley. Last week it was the music guy, Ryan White, a reporter I always read, even though I never listened to the music he was writing about, because he was such a good writer.
The point of having a full-time critic is that I get to know their preferences and that helps inform a decision if what they are talking about is something I might be interested in. Having a bunch of part-timers is not helpful in getting anything done but giving a summary.
The thing I hate most about this transition is that the Oregonian refuses to acknowledge that they are settling for a lesser product.