CRITICAL MASS: The state of arts journalism has been a hot topic lately. Jerome wrote earlier this week about some sharing of arts coverage going on between The Dallas Morning News and Fort Worth Star-Telegram. I checked the papers’ movie reviews today, and the teamwork in some ways has spread there (the DMN picked up Cary Darling’s review of Dark Streets), but the critics seem to still be free to review what they want (both Chris Kelly and Tom Maurstad took cracks at The Day the Earth Stood Still).

At least the critics at our local dailies aren’t suing their editors like they are in Cleveland. Classical music critic Don Rosenberg was taken off the beat earlier this year by The Cleveland Plain Dealer because some thought he was being too hard on the Cleveland Orchestra’s music director. Rosenberg is now suing his editor at the paper, claiming age discrimination. Also named in the suit is the orchestra’s parent company, which Rosenberg says is defaming him. Sounds like things might be a little icy in the newsroom today.

But all is not lost for arts journalism. Laura Niles, the editor of violinist.com, says that as one-way arts criticism declines, community building will take its place.

“What’s more important is to participate in a vibrant online community, whether you create your own, or whether you join existing ones like Facebook, Twitter….or niche site related to your genre, such as Violinist.com. And by participate, you could write blogs, answer questions, post videos, be the subject of interviews, simply list your events,” she told the Life’s a Pitch blog.

Hmm. I wonder if there are any local sites that fit that description?

MORE THAN WORDS: Got a hot date tonight? If you’re a guy and the answer is yes, then get thee to the bookstore and pick up Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom. It topped a British survey of the top 10 reads to impress a woman. It was No. 6 on the list of reads to impress men.

My advice? Read it to each other on that date and wait for the sparks to fly.