Canberra’s daily newspaper The Canberra Times has ceased to commission reviews of classical music, theatre, dance and the visual arts, instead assigning occasional write-ups to non-specialist staff journalists.

According a report in the online publication CityNews, reviewers were told by a section editor: “We are no longer commissioning reviews in our arts pages… this is purely a cost issue… we are still committed to covering Canberra and wider arts, as well as books and theatre, but we will be doing it mostly in house.”

“It’s obviously in no way a reflection on your reviews over the years, which we have very much enjoyed.”

Canberra Symphony Orchestra, 2022. Photo © Martin Ollman

A Fairfax Media title from 2007 to 2019, when it was bought in 2019 by Antony Catalano and Alex Waislitz, The Canberra Times joins other metropolitan mastheads and the ABC (which made its Managing Editor and Digital Arts Editor redundant in wide-ranging staff cuts announced last week) in the downsizing and/or sidelining of review coverage. Reviews in The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald, for example, are housed under a drop-down menu titled “More” with reviews from Melbourne and Sydney combined...