MEDIA WATCH

The New York Times no longer will allow its critics to vote in awards competitions, including the prestigious New York Film Critics, New York Drama Critics, Tony and National Book balloting. After discussions with critics and arts editors, Times executive editor Max Frankel banned participation of Times critics in awards distributed in all fields outside of journalism. Frankel said the paper, which publishes its own 10 best lists every year, will allocate more space to critics and arts writers. A spokeswoman for the New York paper said Wednesday that “we see ourselves as having to be more objective, having some separation between reporting on the arts and being part of the process that votes on awards given.”