Hollywood gives awards voters star treatment:

“What is the Hollywood Foreign Press Association? Though the group claims to represent the world media that connect Hollywood to its vast international audience, few of the world’s most prominent publications are members. Correspondents for Le Monde, The Times of London and Yomiuri Shimbun are not members.

Some major publications, including the Italian newspaper La Repubblica and the German newspaper Stern, are represented, but the association has repeatedly rejected applications from prominent foreign publications while accepting freelancers for small publications in Bangladesh and South Korea. Members need write only four articles a year to maintain active membership. The group accepts a maximum of five new members a year, and each member must be accepted unanimously. Last year, three members of the association died, but it accepted only one new member, Margaret Gardiner, who writes for South African publications.

There is little question that members of the association would get little attention if they did not have the Golden Globes.” —Chicago Tribune

Not that critics for the ‘major publications’ are the only ones entitled to their opinions…