UK Culture Minister Tess Jowell is defending the independence of Arts Council England. “The freedom to make decisions freely – without interference from the state or the market – has never been more important. The arts and culture are the means through which some of the most pressing issues confronting us can be – and in some instances only be – explored.”
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Why Is US Congress Upping “Indecency” Crackdown?
“The more closely you examine the justifications for this crackdown, the clearer it becomes that the ban on broadcast indecency either goes too far or does not go far enough.”
Bush Signs New Indecency Legislation
President Bush has signed a bill that increases fines for broadcast “indecency” by a factor of ten. “The law is a victory for advocacy groups who argue that over-the-air broadcast TV and radio programming has become too coarse in recent years. Cable and satellite channels are not covered by the FCC’s indecency regulations.”
Nielsen To Track Portable Video Ratings
In a sign of the growth of the viewship of portable video, Nielsen says it will begin tracking usage of video. “Anytime Anywhere Media Measurement is a multistep initiative to ‘follow the video’ and adapt to the new and variable ways people are watching TV, the U.S.-based company said Wednesday.”
NY Times Critic Resigns From Museum Board
Grace Glueck has resigned from the board of the Clark Museum. “The reason is that a blogger has cited as a conflict of interest, my working for The Times while serving as a Clark trustee, and as inaccurate as are his insinuations, it seems better for The Times and the Clark that I leave the Clark board. The Times in no way pressured me to do so. I had, before this broke, already given notice to the paper that I planned to ‘retire’ from my contract position there as of Sept. 1.”
Tyler Green Responds To Grace Glueck’s Charges
AJBlogger Tyler Green wants to set the record straight to clarify glueck’s charges of inaccuracy: “I did not write that Glueck had influence in the Times’ coverage of the Clark. I wrote that Glueck’s seat on the Clark’s board ‘raises questions about the Times’ coverage of the Clark.’ Which it did. (And I listed some of the questions.)”
Rosenbaum: Glueck Was “Mother To Us All”
Lee Rosenbaum writes in defense of Grace Glueck. “The blogger-created public ‘scandal’ over Glueck’s lapse, which has just resulted in her resignation from the Clark, doesn’t give even a hint of the other side of the story: the fact that her board membership, while inappropriate, caused no discernible slant in Times coverage.”
Simon To Receive Twain Prize
“Neil Simon, one of America’s most successful playwrights, has been chosen as this year’s recipient of the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, the Kennedy Center announced yesterday. For the past half-century, Simon has been prolific and often produced. Everyone of a certain age probably can name numerous Simon works, as his plays — including The Odd Couple, Barefoot in the Park and The Sunshine Boys — have translated into film and television and into the national consciousness.”
How Can It Be Great If It’s Not New And Expensive?
Washington, D.C.’s Martin Luther King Memorial Library is the district’s only building designed by acclaimed architect Mies van der Rohe, but Benjamin Forgey says you wouldn’t know it from the way the landmark building is being treated as D.C. politicians push for a new central library. “The idea that the 1972 Mies building cannot be renovated into a first-class 21st-century library is absurd… The city’s idea of selling the Mies building to help pay for its new toy is shameful. There is simply no other way to put it. It is to treat a significant work of architecture as if it were a trifling leftover.”
Rereading Childhood Faves Can Be Hazardous To Your Nostalgia
The books we loved as children always seem to hold a special place in our hearts, and though we may not reread them often as adults, they never fail to conjure warm and fuzzy memories. In fact, not rereading them is frequently a good idea. “Moments I had treasured from the book down through the decades now seemed like cheap gags… Where as a child I had seen mystery and wonder, as an adult I saw smug, self-satisfied intellectual humor.”