NPR ombudsman Jeffrey Dvorkin has weighed in on a report done by reporter David D’Arcy. D’Arcy was dismissed for it. “The original report did not, in my opinion, fully and accurately present all of the facts. Nor did it present MoMA’s position on the ownership question. The painting has been in federal custody for years, and MoMA’s position is that the Austrian courts must decide the painting’s legal owners, since the painting was in the United States only as part of a loan arrangement. Most important, in an issue of journalistic fairness, the report did not give MoMA a chance to respond to specific and direct charges leveled against it by numerous critics. The original report was wrongly framed, and NPR was right to air a clarification in early January.”
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Defending D’Arcy
Attorney Randol Schoenberg disputes Dvorkin’s criticisms: “You wrote “the original report did not, in my opinion, fully and accurately present all of the facts.” No doubt this is true of Mr. d’Arcy’s story — as it is true of each and every story aired on NPR. No 5-minute story “could fully and accurately present all the facts” of a historical case concerning events 65+ years ago, the litigation of which has lasted now for over seven years and generated no less than six court opinions concerning complex legal issues beyond the ken of even NPR’s above-average listeners. So your comment, while true, is hardly a criticism. Notably, you fail to mention any inaccuracies in the report. If there are any, they are certainly minor.”
Making the Mideast Safe For Literature
The Middle East is not the easiest place to become a groundbreaking writer, with various forms of religious and government censorship always getting in the way of creative expression. But a new generation of Arab writers are challenging old modes of thinking, and taking on some long-standing taboos.
Smithsonian Plucks New Curator From Its Own Past
“The Smithsonian Institution reached into its own history yesterday and selected Lonnie G. Bunch, a former Smithsonian curator, to be the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Bunch, 52, is president of the Chicago Historical Society, where in the past four years he has led the museum through a reorganization and capital campaign.”
Who’s Screaming, Exactly?
“Edvard Munch’s masterpiece The Scream has become a world icon of human anxiety, appearing on everything from T-shirts to blow-up dolls and causing endless debate among art experts. But what exactly is the surreal figure doing in the painting, with hands pressed to its head and open mouth: Screaming, or hearing a scream?” Munch himself described the moment that inspired the painting as a “scream from nature,” and the figure in the painting appears to be covering his ears, as if to block out a scream, but most people believe that the figure is the one doing the screaming.
The Dark Side of Dr. Seuss
You know of the sneeches and grinches and cats in the hat. But his long, long career was much wider than that. For the good Dr. Seuss may have been quite a wag, but he had a grown-up side that could make you gag. There’s bare breasts and butts, propaganda galore, in the little-known films you can’t buy in the store.
2004 A Banner Year For Family Flicks
For the first time in two decades, “family-friendly” movies grossed more at the box office in 2004 than R-rated films. Whether this is an indication that Americans are moving away from more violent and sexually explicit content is up for debate, though, since 2004 happened to be an unusually strong year for animated films, not to mention that Harry Potter kid…
The Holocaust In Human Terms
Israel’s new Holocaust Museum takes a decidedly personal approach to one of the 20th century’s great human tragedies. “Rather than relying on dry histories and photographs, the new museum uses more modern techniques of film and recreation of reality through artifacts, concentrating on the stories of individuals caught up in the horror of a previously unimaginable world.”
The Elusive Mind Of Sartre
Jean-Paul Sartre would have turned 100 this year, and the anniversary is sparking renewed debate – both in France and the U.S. – concerning the philosopher’s body of work, and whether or not he can still be considered relevant in a world which has passed by many of the ideas he embraced. “There is no underestimating Sartre’s influence over French intellectual and political life for three decades after World War II. Indeed, many who grew up in his shadow, as supporters or opponents, are now among the politicians, intellectuals and journalists who shape public opinion here. And in that sense, traces of Sartrism still flow through the country’s veins… What Sartrism actually means, though, is hard to pin down.”
Whitney May Face An Uphill Battle For Expansion
“Members of [New York’s] Landmarks Preservation Commission suggested at a public hearing yesterday that the Whitney Museum of American Art had so far failed to persuade them of the need to demolish two Madison Avenue brownstones to make way for a museum expansion designed by the architect Renzo Piano.” The commission wants the Whitney to go back to the drawing board and come up with a plan that doesn’t require any demolition; the architect is apoplectic.