Gene Seymour : News of film critic Roger Ebert 's death spread across Internet . He says in many ways blogs owe existence to example set by Ebert , critic co - host Siskel . He says they changed view of what a critic does , made it less formidable . If , as is often remarked , everybody 's a critic , then Roger Ebert was one of the crucial forces responsible for empowering everybody to believe they 're critics . Seymour : Ebert 's approach was unique enough to invite all kinds of criticism .
Gene Seymour : News of film critic Roger Ebert 's death spread across Internet . He says in many ways blogs owe existence to example set by Ebert , critic co - host Siskel . He says they changed view of what a critic does , made it less formidable . Seymour : Ebert 's approach was unique enough to invite all kinds of criticism .