That doesn't actually engage with the criticism, it just appeals to authority (especially dubious since he's making an aesthetic criticism). I personally have n

That doesn't actually engage with the criticism, it just appeals to authority (especially dubious since he's making an aesthetic criticism). I personally have no idea if there is a cartography authority that is worth listening to. Likewise, if you told me that such-and-such comic was adored by some members of the Manga Appreciation Society of North America, I have no idea if that's meaningful. Furthermore, the fact that they are practitioners doesn't actually mean they represent an expert consensus. Suppose I told you that there is a European Cartographic Information Society and they think the North American Cartographic Information Society has completely sold out to clickbaiting, forsaking the intellectual rigor of traditional cartography to create infotainment maps with mass appeal. (These kinds of disputes between authorities occur all the time, even in academic fields, e.g., analytic vs. continental philosophy.) Isn't that scenario completely compatible with the evidence you've given?