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The Internet Broke Journalism… And It Can’t Be Fixed

Clay Shirky back in 2009: “If the old model is broken, what will work in its place?” To which the answer is: Nothing. Nothing will work. There is no general model for newspapers to replace the one the internet just broke. With the old economics destroyed, organizational forms perfected for industrial production have to be replaced with structures optimized for digital data. It makes increasingly less sense even to talk about a publishing industry, because the core problem publishing solves — the incredible difficulty, complexity, and expense of making something available to the public — has stopped being a problem. – Clay Shirky

Australian Ballet Cancels Season’s Major Premiere Due To Graeme Murphy’s Illness

One of the centerpieces of the company’s 2019 season was to have been Murphy’s full-length adaptation of the Oscar Wilde story “The Happy Prince.” But, due to what’s being described only as “a medical issue,” Murphy — who spent 31 years as director of Sydney Dance Company, which he led to international renown, and has since been active as a freelance choreographer — is unable to finish the piece. — Limelight (Australia)

Community Youth Theater Ordered To Pay $450K For Copyright Infringement

A U.S. federal court in Virginia ordered Theaterpalooza Community Theater Productions, Inc. to pay damages and and attorney fees to Music Theatre International, the major licensor for musicals, after Theaterpalooza staged at least 16 musicals (including Matilda, Seussical, and Little Shop of Horrors) without licensing and the company’s owner ignored repeated cease-and-desist letters. — Playbill

So The Times Thinks It’s Wonderful That Yannick Nézet-Séguin Is Openly Gay. What About The Paper’s Own Role In Keeping The Closet Shut For So Long?

Joel Rozen: “Closeting rarely happens in a vacuum; it requires a hostile culture of gay suppression and mechanisms like the popular media to thrive. Rather than simply acting like the secrecy of high-profile gay men in Manhattan was a random phenomenon, a story such as Woolfe’s could just as well have addressed the music press’s past complicity in making homosexuality a secret in the first place.” — Slate

Accusers Of Director Bryan Singer Come Forward With Allegations Of Teen Sexual Abuse

“Almost from the moment his star began to rise, Singer, who is now 53, has been trailed by allegations of sexual misconduct. … We spent 12 months investigating various lawsuits and allegations against Singer. In total, we spoke with more than 50 sources, including four men who have never before told their stories to reporters.” (In response, Singer has called this article a “homophobic smear piece.”) — The Atlantic

For Her Upcoming World Premiere, Composer Julia Wolfe Goes Shopping For Scissors

Reporter Michael Cooper joins the Pulitzer winner in the search for shears (“The big thing is the sound. I’m not really looking for how they cut.”) for her new piece about the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire of 1911, Fire in my mouth, written for the New York Philharmonic and The Crossing and arriving on stage this week. — The New York Times

U.S. Government Shutdown Could Torpedo Tintoretto Show At National Gallery

“The exhibition of 16th-century Italian master Tintoretto — one of the most anticipated art shows of the year — is set to open March 10, along with two complementary exhibits on Venetian prints and drawings. Preparations for the shows are weeks behind schedule because of the prolonged shutdown, the longest in history.” Three other Smithsonian museums have already had to postpone exhibitions due to the shutdown. — The Washington Post

Jonas Mekas, Giant Of American Underground Film, Dead At 96

“It is rare to have consensus on the pre-eminence of any person in the arts. But few would argue that Mr. Mekas, who was often called the godfather or the guru of the New American Cinema — his name for the underground film movement of the 1950s and ’60s — was the leading champion of the kind of film that doesn’t show at the multiplex. … In addition to making his own movies and writing prolifically about the movies of others, Mr. Mekas was the founder or a co-founder of institutions that support and promote independent filmmakers” — most notably the journal Film Culture and the museum-library Anthology Film Archives. — The New York Times