The New York Times recently reassigned four of its arts critics to other gigs in the newsroom. The roles aren’t going away; the company is searching for new candidates fluent in “new story forms, videos and experimentation with other platforms,” per a memo. This language prompted the worker-owned publication Hell Gate NYC to ask: “Does the NYT want culture writing or TikTok videos?” The question could be extended to the entire media ecosystem. In an age when information travels faster than ever before and competition for audience attention is cutthroat, what is the role of the arts critic? And what does the future of arts criticism look like in that landscape? Guest host Patrick Hosken and his panel discuss it.

In studio: