Publication Date

Spring 2011

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Television, Radio, Film and Theatre

Advisor

David Kahn

Keywords

Blogging, critical authority, journalist theater criticism, theater criticism, theater weblogs, weblogs

Subject Areas

Theater; Journalism; Web Studies

Abstract

New York City has one of the most active and engaged theater blogging communities in the country. It is common practice for theater bloggers to supplement and comment on the journalistic and critical practices of the New York Times, Time Out, New York, and The Village Voice, but the idea of a theater blogosphere is still a relatively new phenomenon. The emerging role of blogger-critics and their critical practice is largely uncharted and far from understood. While sharing some of the same tasks as the journalist-critic, blogger-critics are still defining and identifying the scope of their practice and, in some cases, forging an identity that is separate from that of mainstream journalist-critics.

This study examines a series of events called Blogger's Nights and documents the factors that shaped the critical function of the reviews that resulted from these community events. Taking a case study approach, this study aims to establish a baseline of information about the practice of blogger-criticism and to identify how critical tasks are shaped by the boundaries of the medium and the expectations of the community that surrounds the blogger-critic.

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