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FCC Throws Radio Listeners A Bone With No Marrow

The new FCC rules governing media ownership actually tighten regulations on how many radio stations a single entity may own, even as it relaxes the same rules for TV and print media. It is a move the commission’s chairman says is in response to public concern that a few mega-companies now control the lion’s share of U.S. radio programming. But the wording of the new rules will actually tighten the death grip on the industry of the biggest radio giant, Clear Channel, since its current station ownership, now over the new limit in many markets, has been grandfathered into the new regulations. In other words, Clear Channel can’t get any bigger, but no one else can even attempt to catch up.

The Limits Of Knowledge?

Are there limits to what it is possible for us to know? “The last century brought the first hints of fundamental, inherent limits on the knowable. Kurt Godel discovered, to everyone’s shock, that some statements in mathematics can be neither proved nor disproved. And physicists showed that the laws of quantum mechanics prevent us from knowing simultaneously both the position and the momentum of a subatomic particle. Will the world continue to yield to man’s curiosity, or will we encounter evermore Godelian limits?”

Mountain Dance

Project Bandaloop is “a group in Oakland that combines dance with the art of climbing.” The company “seeks out such places as the 12,000-foot Sawtooth Ridge in the Sierra’ where the dancers “hang by ropes and perform choreography in the air.”

America’s Top Arts Cities

Which American city is tops in the arts? If you said New York, you’re wrong. At least according to AmericanStyle magazine. The Magazine ranks America’s best arts cities. “The survey – something less than scientific, since its results are based on reader votes – purports to show that the Midwest is emerging as a new area of artistic influence. Chicago, for example, moved up to No. 1 from its No. 5 position in 2002. And newcomers in the top 25 include Milwaukee and Columbus, with Cleveland returning to the list for the first time since 1998.”

After The Building, What?

Building a new performing arts center is only the beginning. After it’s beuilt you have to invest money on what goes inside it. Mangers of the new Miami Dade performing arts center in Florida project it will take a $100 million to get programming and resident companies on sound footing once the hall opens. With the Florida Philharmonic recently imploding, some wonder if the community is ready to step up and make the investment required.

Is Australia Bleeding Its Public Broadcaster Dry?

Australia’s public broadcaster ABC is being bled of funding. “It’s a tried and true tactic. You distract the rest of the media from the issue of the long-term, incremental de-funding of the ABC by lobbing a few verbal grenades in Aunty’s direction. Commentators become so fixated on reporting the resulting explosions and collateral damage, they forget to take a step back and analyse the political and cultural implications of that de-funding process. What we need is a discussion about the vital role of the ABC in informing Australians about public affairs.”

FCC Relaxes Media Ownership Rules

The FCC has relaxed controls on media ownership. “The Republican-controlled Federal Communications Commission voted 3-2 – along party lines – to adopt a series of changes favored by media companies. These companies argued that existing ownership rules were outmoded on a media landscape that has been substantially altered by cable TV, satellite broadcasts and the Internet. Critics say the eased restrictions would likely lead to a wave of mergers landing a few giant media companies in control of even more of what the public sees, hears and reads.”

Mislaid Picasso Print Finds Its Way Home

Last week a man left a case with a rare Picasso in it in a subway station. “The man who found it is a mystery. But he, in turn, left it leaning against a wall on the Upper West Side, under a poster advertising bagels. The next man to find it, a sidewalk book vendor, took it home to Queens. He liked the portfolio. No idea there was a Picasso in there, and he would not have picked it out if he had looked. Just another drawing of two guys on a bench. But soon, it was all over the papers, and his wife figured it out first. He called the man who lost the portfolio and inquired about the reward. Next thing he knew, the police were waiting for him at his corner today when he showed up for work.”