“Publishers, editors and, presumably, readers want instant evaluations and newsbites, preferably with flashy pictures.”

From the Washington Post obit, by Tim Page, of music critic Martin Bernheimer:

Martin Bernheimer, who combined an encyclopedic knowledge of music with a brilliant, exuberant and sometimes lacerating command of the English language, died Sept. 29 at his home in Manhattan. He was 83. . . .

His tastes were mostly conservative and, when he was displeased, he came down hard. He called Philip Glass “our favorite pioneering Xeroxed-arpeggio composer … the supreme master of the profound doodledy-doodledy.”. . .

He was a regular guest on the Metropolitan Opera radio quiz for many years and continued writing criticism, mostly for the Financial Times. But he was not happy with what he saw happening to the world he had adorned for so long.

“Essentially, our civilization is tilting towards anti-authoritarian contests,” he wrote in 2008. “Audiences, not judges, select winners. Call it the American Idolization of culture. On TV, contestants get voted off without explanation. Quality is measured by thumbs, up or down. Scholarly analyses have turned into irrelevant extravagances for snobs.

“Many U.S. papers have abandoned thoughtful, detailed reviews altogether. Publishers, editors and, presumably, readers want instant evaluations and newsbites, preferably with flashy pictures. It is Zagat-think, simplicity for the simple-minded.”