Critique under influence?

In this study, we examine the determinants of the selection and ratings of films by professional critics to evaluate their level of independence. We analyse an original dataset collected by web scraping, consisting of 28 French media outlets and 1,622 movies over the 2010-2014 period. The main variables relate to the film market (movie theater release, film distributor’s size, user ratings), the cinema milieu (‘Art et Essai’ recommendations, nominations, awards) and the critics’ world (the way film magazines and other media rate movies). Our econometric results highlight different profiles of media according to their level of independence. We suggest that selection and ratings are not explained by the same variables. A media outlet could be considered as being independent from economic factors in its selection process whereas its ratings appear to be influenced either positively as a commercial media or negatively as an alternative media. Finally, the simple dichotomy between independent and commercial critics appears to no longer be relevant. Instead, we suggest a finer distinction between dependent/neutral/alternative media outlets.