nothing ever happens: people that don't have the time for/have little interesting artistic insight have always leaned on criticism to form their opinions for them. most critics are and have always been hacks.

everything must get worse: every critic has to do personality cult Content Creation now because all the papers went under. then they have these brands, so even if some art breaks expecatations and moulds they've cultivated, they're obliged to lie and serve an audience what they want. see the "Fallout show is WOKE bullshit" storm based on the trailer vs. "Fallout show antiwoke masterpiece" that ran through the CHUD sloposphere