ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY FIRES ITS FILM CRITIC

Longtime Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman has been fired, becoming the latest casualty of the magazine’s retrenchment strategy as it prepares for parent Time Inc.’s upcoming spinoff from Time Warner. Six other staffers were also let go, including music critic Nick Catucci, staff writer Annie Barrett, senior editor Kerrie Mitchell, deputy design director David Schlow, and product director Chad Schlegel. Last week executive editor Jason Adams left the publication after 11 years; deputy editor Jeff Giles also left, reportedly to work on a book; and another EW Film critic, Lisa Schwarzbaum, took a buyout in February after 22 years with the magazine. On Twitter, Deadline.com founder Nikki Finke called the firing of the film critic “idiocy” and added, “If I weren’t sitting out a non-compete [agreement with Deadline] until June 1, I’d be scooping up laid off EW writers like Owen Gleiberman.” The staff cuts are occurring days after the magazine launched a new online platform called “The Community,” which apparently will showcase the work of “community contributors” about the entertainment business. The platform was excoriated by Scott Meslow, entertainment editor for TheWeek.com, who called it a “depressing and shameful strategy” to exploit aspiring writers most of whom will be paid “absolutely nothing.”