We turn now to The Playgoer quoting The Times via Moxie.

The proliferation of nontraditional media, largely available at no cost, challenges the traditional media model, in which quality journalism has primarily been supported by print advertising revenues. If consumers fail to differentiate our content from other content providers, on the Internet or otherwise, we may experience a decline in revenues.

In my ideal world, the big media outlets are no longer the most generally accepted source for information on the arts. I don't know about you guys, but I look forward to the day when even the average theatre-goer knows that he can get a much more diverse set of opinions on-line than in the papers. Not that the big media is going to disappear (and it does have some excellent uses). I just think that it's high time the rest of the world realized how absurd it is that such a small group has so much sway over such a large industry/art. I say, let the critics start their own blogs, let them compete in the market of ideas. We'll see who the people choose to trust. If nothing else, as Isaac at Parabasis points out, you'd think they'd have begun to feel the pressure already.

And, apropos to Theatreforte, that seems especially relevant in smaller cities, who probably only have one or two theatre critics of record. And if you're stuck with an uncooperative, unsupportive bastard, then you're stuck. (I do believe that part of the critic's job is to support the scene in general, not simply criticize it. It's entirely possible to give a bad review and help the scene along at the same time, and the best critics do so.) That's where the internet can help. That's why we need more bloggers out in the country, in the "fly-over" states, in the distant corners of the heartland. We need eyewitnesses and we need them now.

Of course, now I come around to the realization that I've started a blog the purpose of which is to blog about other blogs and I wonder if that's maybe a little too navel-gazing for me to accept. We've gotten some great support this week, mainly from other bloggers, and that's been huge. But what's the end result? Is anyone else out there reading? Are we just talking to ourselves? I know, give it time.

Isaac at Parabasis had a great post the other day - What Can We Do About It?

I usually reach a point every few months where I say okay, we all know there are problems, what are we going to do about it?

I feel in such a place today, but I want to rephrase it a little:

Given that our problems might not have solutions, what can we do to creatively move forward?

A couple nights ago I was sitting around at Stauf's with Brant and a couple other theatre friends and we came to the very logical conclusion that theatre is doomed. Current funding models and attendance trends mean that most cities in America will soon have no need of more than one theatre company. If we could clone Actors Theatre of Louisville (minus Humana) and put it in each major metropolitan, most people's theatrical needs would be more than served. We're frustrated that we don't get better support from our communities, but really, why should they care? If we're not giving them something they're looking for, why should they support us? Here in Columbus, there's no big demand for more arts, and the arts are suffering. But why should the city put a bunch of money into the problem? There's little to no proof that they have a practical or economic interest in our problems. Should they fund us just because we're supposedly good for them? C'mon, we can't possibly be that arrogant, can we? (Okay, I've got a long, long post on this stuff pent-up and waiting to burst out, so let's move on until then.)

So, what's a theatre blog to do? What's it for? We're probably not going to solve these problems, so what should our goals be? What are yours?

UPDATE
As good an answer as any in the documentation for Indietheatre.org

Also, Sean @ Working Group responds.