Author: Matthew Westphal

How Fox News Became The Propaganda Arm Of The Trump White House

Strange as it may seem today, there was a point at which the network was very skeptical of Donald Trump’s campaign for the presidency. Now Fox News personalities appear with Trump at political events and give him policy advice, both on and off the air. Jane Mayer does a deep dive into how the change happened, who tried to keep it at bay (Roger Ailes!), and who chose not to stop it. – The New Yorker

Congressman Writes Jeff Bezos, And Five Anti-Vaxxer Docs Get Pulled From Amazon Prime Video

“The anti-vax documentaries had been available in the U.S. as part of Prime Video but as of Friday afternoon were not available to stream. … The move came just hours after U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) publicly announced that he’d sent a letter to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos expressing concern that Amazon is ‘surfacing and recommending products and content that discourage parents from vaccinating their children.'” – Variety

Museum Of Contemporary Art Cleveland Makes Itself More Inclusive Very Simply: Free Admission

The move is part of the museum’s 50th anniversary “Open House” inclusivity initiative, which also includes “the creation of a diversity-focused curatorial fellowship (the first recipient is LaTanya Autry, who has held curatorial positions at the Yale University Art Gallery and the Mississippi Museum of Art), an engagement-guide apprenticeship program, enhanced onsite programming for families and teens, and the addition of an education specialist.” – ARTnews

Andrea Martin Breaks Four Ribs, Pulls Out Of Taylor Mac’s New Broadway Show

The Tony-winning actress was set to co-star alongside Nathan Lane in Mac’s Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus. (The lead roles are servants who have to haul away the dead bodies and clean up after Titus’s war.) The role has been recast, and the first preview performance has been postponed from March 5 to March 9. – The Hollywood Reporter

La Scala Under Fire For Putting Saudi Culture Minister On Board Of Directors

“Alexander Pereira, the Austrian chief executive and artistic director credited with bringing in more sponsors and creating a healthier balance sheet since his appointment in 2014, said the new board member” — Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Mohammed bin Farhan Al Saud — “would bring in an additional €15m (£12.8m) over the next five years.” Saudi Arabia is, of course, in bad odor among many in the Western arts world, despite the Kingdom’s efforts to use culture to improve its image. – The Guardian

UK Panel Rules National Gallery’s Laid-Off Educators Should Have Rights As Workers, Not Freelancers

Mind you, the tribunal didn’t find that the 27 plaintiffs were unfairly sacked; neither did it say they should have all the rights of Gallery employees (not the same thing as “workers” under English employment law). But the ruling did say that the group, mostly lecturers and docents, must “enjoy benefits such as minimum wage, holiday pay, and protection from dismissal, which self-employed contractors do not” — a finding with major implications for how freelancers are treated in Britain. – Hyperallergic

Brazil’s Great Sculpture Park, Inhotim, Reopens Following Disastrous Dam Collapse

“The deadly mudslides that resulted from the [Brumadinho] accident did not reach the sculpture park, which is around 20km from the site and had been evacuated, but more than 80% of its 600 employees live in the region, and more than 40 are related to some of the 300 workers and their families who died or remain missing.” – The Art Newspaper