Former Guardian editor Peter Preston thinks it’s “a bit rum” that Times editor James Harding has appointed two non specialist writers to the jobs of theatre and film critics: Libby Purves and Kate Muir respectively.
Preston believes that those who have devoted their careers to the genres might do a better job than these relative late-comers.
He writes in the Observer: “The Nightingales, Billingtons and Frenches of this life are much more than fizzy wordsmiths. What they write – thumbs up or down – matters.
“Will Libby Purves be able to supply that essential service? Let’s hope so. She’s 60, too late for a career in theatre reviewing but at least the right sort of age for the audience she’s going to command.
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“And Kate Muir, on the nether side of 40? If she looks around as the house lights go up, she’ll see that she’s one of the oldest people in sight: 30 is more or less top weight at her Finchley Vue.”
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