Role Of The Media Critic

 Media Criticism Responsibility in An Electronic Media Example

By Nina Borja

          The media critic, Rob Sheffield, in his Rolling Stone article, "Super Bowl Halftime Shows Ranked: From Worst to Best," first and foremost represent the entertaining responsibility of media criticism based on Orlik's Media Criticism in A Digital Age. Sheffield's discussion in his article is mainly about his personal ranking of the worst to best Super Bowl halftime shows, where the article's visual layout is represented best as a countdown list. 

          According to Orlik's discussion of a media critic's responsibility to entertainment, he emphasizes how electronic media criticism is expressed in an "interesting, concise, and even fun to absorb," (Orlik 34) manner in order for the overall package to be both impactful and garner an audience. Applying this to Sheffield's critique for Super Bowl halftime shows, he deliberately uses more conversational writing styles rather than formal ones. Sheffield also sprinkles his opinions throughout each performance ranking. This inevitably creates a casual and 'easy-to-read tone of language for the audience, making the digestibility of the article accessible to everyone. 

          On top of this, Sheffield’s critique is formatted not as a singular entity, but rather as a component of The Rolling Stone company. Therefore, his article is marketed directly to the audience as an entertainment piece through Rolling Stone. 

            This is a perfect example of how Orlik describes the nature of the professional media commentary. Since this article was published by an entertainment company itself, it is directly created to entertain the public.

       

     By the time readers reach Sheffield’s top number one, the readers have consumed several forms of media besides the article Sheffield wrote. This includes hyperlinks to other related Rolling Stone articles on artists, videos embedded into the article, and several recommended sponsors. This layout bursts with entertainment in several forms of media. Readers are not pressured to read the entirety of the article but are invited to skim through and pick out the content that interests them. The importance of entertainment is to genuinely enjoy his personal critique of halftime shows throughout the decades. Referring back to Orlik, this plays perfectly with the general idea that a media critic functions as a guide rather than a dictator.