US Representative Bernie Sanders writes that the recently passed Broadcast Decency Enforcement Act of 2005 is a threat to free expression and Americans’ First Amendment rights. “I am increasingly alarmed by the culture of censorship that is developing in this country. This censorship is being conducted by the corporations that own our increasingly consolidated, less diverse media. And it is being done by the government. The result is an insidious chill on free expression on our airwaves.”
Tag: 03.08.05
Culture Reporter Taken Off Air By NPR?
Veteran art-news reporter David D’Arcy has been taken off the air by National Public Radio (NPR) after the Museum of Modern Art complained about his report on the long-running controversy over the ownership of Egon Schiele’s painting, Portrait of Wally. Though the painting was stolen by the Nazis from Viennese dealer Lea Bondi in 1939, its present owner, the Leopold Foundation in Vienna, refuses to return it to Bondi’s heirs, and a contentious court battle has raged ever since the painting turned up in a 1997 MoMA exhibition.
Off-Broadway – For What Ails America
“This spring there is an exceptional crop of new work by living writers including David Mamet, Stephen Adly Guirgis (who wrote Jesus Hopped the A Train) and Stephen Belber. Watching these plays, it becomes clear that American dramatists are obsessed by the failure of existing legal, religious and political systems to deal with the rising tide of prejudice. They suggest you can actually smell hatred in the air.”
Peter Boal Heads West
Later this year Peter Boal leaves New York City Ballet to take over Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle. “NYCB is the major repository and custodian of the Balanchine heritage. PNB is a bit like NYCB in its early days, when every Balanchine premiere stirred controversy as well as delight. And the Seattle company can afford to take chances on new ideas as to what dancing is all about. Peter Boal’s mental suitcase is packed. In many ways, he has already left home.”
Sharpton Calls For Ban Of Artists Connected To Violence
The Rev. Al Sharpton says that there is a need for a new law that would ban “artists who are connected to any violent acts, denying them airplay on radio and television for 90 days. ‘There’s a difference in the having the right to express yourself and in engaging in violence and using the violence to hype record sales, and then polluting young Americans that this is the key to success, by gunslinging and shooting’.”
Dubai Launches Anti-Crude Art Campaign
The United Arab Emirates is launching an expensive “Say No To Crude Art campaign. “We will launch a campaign to fight this phenomenon, especially indecent video clips and messages telecast on TV. The campaign will be funded by several groups which have shown interest in fighting this phenomenon.
Controversial Diana Ballet Debuts
“Diana the Princess, created by Danish choreographer and friend of the Royal Peter Schauffus, portrays the Prince of Wales as a heartless brute, sternly dressed in a double-breasted suit. The Prince, who spurns his wife throughout, is shown passionately cavorting with Camilla Parker Bowles in the early stages of his marriage.”
Changes At The Top For Two Israeli Lit Supplements
The literary supplements of two of Israel’s largest publications have undergone a generational change. “Coincidentally or not, the literary supplements of the two mass-circulation dailies – Yedioth Ahronoth and Maariv – are undergoing significant changes. Two months ago the veteran editor of the supplement in Yedioth retired after 39 years. He was replaced by his deputy of the past 20 years. At Maariv, the veteran editor of the literary supplement, Talma Admon, has been dismissed and Dana Elazar-Halevi has been appointed as her replacement.”
Do Readers Make Better Police Officers?
The mayor of Nezahualcoyotl, Mexico, has “ordered all 1,100 members of the municipal police to read at least one book a month or forfeit their chance of promotion. ‘We believe reading will improve their vocabulary and their writing skills, help them express themselves, order their ideas and communicate with the public. Reading will make them better police officers and better people’.”
Is Defacing Public Art, Art?
“Audacious and appalling when it’s aimed at a museum masterpiece, the vandalizing of freely accessible, open-air artworks carries its own set of meanings and effects. Community murals, public sculpture and other forms of outdoor art are clearly more vulnerable than a museum’s protected holdings. But public pieces also tap notions of shared ownership and mutual interest (or mutual distaste) to raise an ongoing, open-ended mingling of reactions, feelings and reconsiderations. The public space belongs to everyone and no one. Art that is placed there engages and enacts that idea.”