The IRS says that some non-profits have become a “hotbed of tax evasion and abuse.” Congress is threatening action. “The findings have already sent alarms through the nonprofit community. Last month the industry-convened Panel on the Nonprofit Sector offered a preliminary report on how laws could be tightened and practices improved to curb abuse. In some cases fraud and abuse are committed by the nonprofit itself, such as when a charity is established to benefit its main donor; in other cases, the nonprofit acts an enabler for tax-shelter promoters, such as when a municipality or union takes a fee to participate in a deal that allocates “profits” to it and losses to wealthy individuals.”
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Satellite Radio Is Changing An Industry
Satellite radio is gaining traction. And as it gains credibility, it i changing the programming landscape. “Total subscribers at XM and its competitor, Sirius Satellite Radio, will probably surpass eight million by the end of year, making satellite radio one of the fastest-growing technologies ever – faster, for example, than cellphones. To keep that growth soaring, XM and Sirius are furiously signing up carmakers to offer satellite radio as a factory-installed option and are paying tens of millions of dollars for exclusive programming.”
The Summer Blockbusters – Managing The Risk
“The summer movie release schedules show around 25 “major” productions poised for release – most on a near-simultaneous global rollout, to foil the pirates – at an average cost, we’ve worked out, of $85m. It must be remembered that actual box-office takings are now a minor part of a film’s income-generating potential: it’s taken as read that individual movies now act as a brand, developing ancillary products from soundtracks to video games to DVDs that – if all goes according to the business plan – will far dwarf what cinemagoers themselves fork out. The pressures to get it right are now so huge that one thing is clear: Hollywood is deeply reluctant to get involved with anything that hasn’t already proved itself.”
Record Spending By US Foundations In 2004
Foundation spending in the US increased to record levels in 2004. “An estimated $32.4 billion spilled out of the nation’s roughly 66,000 independent, community and corporate foundations in 2004, compared with $30.3 billion in the prior year, a 4.1 percent increase when adjusted for inflation.”
When All Of The Knowledge Of The World Comes Together
We’re in a new era of globalization, writes Thomas Friedman. “We are now in the process of connecting all the knowledge pools in the world together. We’ve tasted some of the downsides of that in the way that Osama bin Laden has connected terrorist knowledge pools together through his Qaeda network, not to mention the work of teenage hackers spinning off more and more lethal computer viruses that affect us all. But the upside is that by connecting all these knowledge pools we are on the cusp of an incredible new era of innovation, an era that will be driven from left field and right field, from West and East and from North and South.”
An Arts Pulitzer Primer
Wondering about the winners of this year’s arts Pulitzers? Here’s an archive of reviews and features about the play, music and writing that won.
Celebrity Shakespeare
It used to be that actors did Shakespeare to prove themselves. “Obviously the old standards of judging Shakespeare have to be modified to deal with this new phenomenon. In the old days we might have fussed over how Academy Award winner Denzel Washington lived up to the demands of Brutus. Now it makes more sense to determine how the character of Brutus fits the qualities Washington brings to him.”
Canada To Toughen Copyright
Canadian Heritage Minister Liza Frulla says her government intends to inrtoduce tough new copyright laws later this year. “Frulla expressed her intention to toughen Canada’s ‘antiquated’ intellectual property laws through proposed new copyright legislation to be tabled in June. ‘We’ll also be addressing the peer-to-peer issue. It will give the tools to companies and authors to sue’.”
New Gore Network: TV For The Internet Generation?
Al Gore announces the launch of a new cable TV network. “The former vice president and longtime Internet champion joined investors Monday to announce the creation of Current, a cable TV channel that will target younger viewers with a blend of news, culture and viewer-produced video. Gore will serve as chairman of the board of the new venture, which will be based in San Francisco.”
The Colors Of NPR
Does National Public Radio have a diversity problem? ” ‘Public radio news and information audiences tend to be curious about their world, enjoy learning and are heavier consumers of information than the general population. . . . Our own research finds that these characteristics are present in both groups of listeners, black and white.’ But doesn’t that let public radio off the hook by pretending its focus on white culture is really just a focus on a transcendent culture – blaming the lack of minority listenership on the fact that not enough minorities go to college?”