When every Edinburgh show gets five stars, rating-system inflation has won

- Lyn Gardner
- guardian.co.uk, Sunday 21 August 2011 21.59 BST
- Article history

'The star rating system that is now ubiquitous across all cultural criticism began on the Edinburgh fringe. With the Scotsman running hundreds of reviews throughout August, it had to find a way to make certain shows stand out amid the newsprint. Star ratings did the job very nicely. But are all stars equal, and do they mean anything at all outside the three weeks of the fringe?'

http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/2011/aug/21/critics-notebook-lyn-gardner?CMP=twt_gu

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