Only 32% of British children under 13 are read to daily by an adult, for pleasure, down four percentage points on the previous year, and nine percentage points down on 2012. Most parents stop reading to their child by the age of eight, with just 19% of eight to 10-year-olds read to daily by an adult, across all socio-economic groups, down 3% on last year. Boys were less likely to be read to daily than girls at 14%, compared with 24%. – The Guardian
Author: Douglas McLennan
Stories Illustrate. Stories Mutate. Stories Grow And Change The World
In many ways, stories are uncannily similar to living organisms. They seem to have their own interests. They compel us to share them and, once told, they begin to grow and change, often becoming longer and more elaborate. They compete with one another for our attention—for the opportunity to reach as many minds as possible. They find each other, intermingle, and multiply. – Harper’s
Quebec Radio Stations Pull Michael Jackson’s Music After Documentary
Jackson’s family and his estate have denounced the Leaving Neverland documentary in recent weeks through written statements, a lawsuit, and letters to HBO and Britain’s Channel 4, which also plans to air the film. Their central criticism has been the documentary’s failure to talk to family members or other defenders of Jackson, whom they insist never molested a child. – CBC
Blurred Lines: How Music Copyright Works Today (An Explainer)
Most music copyright infringement cases are settled out of court with shared writing credit — and royalties — as it’s extremely rare for these types of cases to make it to a jury. When it gets to that point, determining fault can be tricky. – Washington Post
State Of The Art: Survey Of 300 Art Critics Illuminates A Field In Profound Change
In such moments, visual literacy, news literacy, social justice, global politics, and art become part of a rapidly moving whole that arts writers and critics contribute to and respond to. With audiences speaking so directly to art institutions, this raises questions about what the role of arts journalists can and should be. – Nieman
U Of Chicago President Says Trump’s Threats To Universities Over Limiting Speech Is A “Grave Error”
“I believe that any action by the executive branch that interferes with the ability of higher-education institutions to address this problem themselves is misguided and in fact sets a very problematic precedent,” Robert J. Zimmer wrote. – Chronicle of Higher Education
Too Distracting? English National Opera To Cut Back On Supertitles
The opera company said the move had been prompted by a desire to “give audiences even more choice in the new season”, which will be announced in April. “This confirms ENO’s commitment to singing English, and allows those who find the use of surtitles distracting an opportunity to see an opera without their use,” chief executive Stuart Murphy said. – The Stage
Ideas: The Mythology Of Paris And What Made It Great
The major thing is that the Paris myth, in some sense, creates its own death through saturation of believers. The truly exceptional people that came to Paris pave the way for the rest of us, but, their being truly exceptional, in some way, is what made the Paris we chase in our minds what it was. – The Smart Set
Why The University Of California Has Taken A Stand Against One Of The Largest Academic Publishers
Elsevier still made $1.17 billion in publishing in 2017, which is precisely the problem, according to its critics. At its loftiest, academic publishing is supposed to be about disseminating hard-won knowledge. But publishers charge hefty subscription fees, making that knowledge often inaccessible to researchers at all but the wealthiest institutions. Last year, the University of California paid Elsevier $11 million. – The Atlantic
State Arts Funding – Steady As She Goes (And Yet…)
On one hand, it is a testament to the continuous hard work of a lot of people that the sector is able to, on balance, keep funding to SAAs relatively stable. On the other hand, it is frustrating and emblematic of how far we still have to go in terms of effective lobbying and making the case for our value to the public, that we can’t realize consistently meaningful significant increases, sustainable over time. – Barry’s Blog