PRESS RELEASE - 15 July 2024
The Advertiser cuts arts critics
Statement from the Adelaide Critics Circle.
It is with deep concern that the Adelaide Critics Circle Incorporated (ACCI) notes that the Adelaide metro daily, The Advertiser, has dispensed with the services of its specialised contributors of performing-arts criticism.
Long-serving theatre, music, and opera critics have been informed by email that The Advertiser no longer will be running arts reviews and therefore no longer will be needing the critics. It added: “This email is to give you 30 days notice”.
The founding chair of the Adelaide Critics Circle, Samela Harris, said that this decision constitutes “ a severe body blow to the arts in South Australia”.
“The Advertiser has been the main publisher of arts and culture criticism in this state for almost 200 years and well-known, experienced and knowledgeable critics play an important part in the cultural and economic life of South Australia,” she said. “They set the benchmarks for performing and visual arts. They influence audiences, the careers of artists, and the success of our huge variety of arts companies. “They reflect the cultural successes of the city and State and the health of the arts economy. ‘For a city hosting internationally celebrated arts festivals the loss of professional reviews in the print media may be seen as an embarrassment.”
The Advertiser has a long tradition of important reviewers such as Mary Armitage, Shirley Stott Despoja, Harold Tidemann, Alan Roberts, Samela Harris, Tim Lloyd and Peter Burdon in theatre; Elizabeth Silsbury, Stephen Whittington, Rodney Smith and Ewart Shaw in opera and music. It has reviewed very widely from professional companies to amateur and community events. It has embraced the visual arts, film, architecture and design, literature, museums and art galleries, circus, comedy and rock concerts, radio and TV.
The Adelaide Critics Circle was formed in 1996 at the instigation of the then Adelaide Festival Artistic Director, Robyn Archer. Its two-score membership was derived from both print and electronic media. The Circle annually presents prestigious awards across the South Australian performing and visual arts.
It notes that The Advertiser has remained the only print publication of record readily available to readers of the arts community.