No ‘Lightweight’: ABC Radio Journalist Defends Credentials
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In the interest of accuracy, I cannot let Patrick Goldstein’s column of Nov. 13 go withoutcomment (“An Oscar for ‘Croupier’ Doesn’t Seem in the Cards”).
I have been a correspondent for ABC News for more than 25 years. Since 1985, I have concentrated on entertainment news and movie reviews for the ABC Radio Networks. I strongly resent Goldstein’s implication that I fall into the category of “junket press lightweights,” and appreciate Terry Press of DreamWorks coming to my defense.
More importantly, Goldstein failed to do his homework. To set the record straight, I never saw or reviewed “Gone in 60 Seconds” and, consequently, was never quoted in any ads for that film. As for “The Legend of Bagger Vance,” Press appears to have no problem including my quote with those of other critics who also praised the film.
Lastly, it isn’t the movie studios who are devaluing film critics by, as Goldstein feels, “splashing newspaper ads with raves from junket press lightweights.” The Internet is doing that, letting everyone with an opinion be a critic, and that arena is bigger than all of us.
BILL DIEHL
New York
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