Last year it was state governments that slashed arts funding. This year it’s cities. Philadelphia, Los Angeles, New York… all are looking at cutting cultural funding as hey struggle to balance budgets.
Tag: 04.13.04
MTV – The Most Trusted Name In News? (Among Young People?)
Network news is heading for a crisis, with fewer and fewer young people using it as their primary information source. Why rush home for the six o’clock news when there are online papers, blogs, and cable available ’round the clock? A recent Pew Research Center survey revealed that only 23 percent of young people 18-29 get their campaign news from network anchors.” Into this landscape, MTV News is gaining more and more influence.
Broadcasters To Play It Safe Under US Content Crackdown
The US government crackdown on content of TV and radio is having an effect. “Broadcasters may stage a retreat from risky shows over the next few seasons as a regulatory campaign to clean up the airwaves gains momentum from election-year politics, media analysts said on Monday.”
What Becomes A Flop?
“If you want to make your own flop film, it is not simply a case of throwing money at a poor script and hoping no-one will come. Flops can generally be said to misjudge the public mood. A number of big movies have become big flops for very different reasons, however.”
Music Sales Turnaround… Why?
Sales of music are up 9 percent in the first three months of 2004 after three years of declines. Yet downloading on the internet is still increasing. So if downloading wasn’t responsible for declines in music sales in recent years, what was? IOndustry watchers say it was a combination of factors…
New NYT Book Review Chief Gets To Work
Sam Tanenhaus began work this week as the new editor of the New York Times Book Review. “Since his appointment a few weeks ago, Tanenhaus’ likes and dislikes, his authorship of a prize-winning biography of anti-Communist icon Whittaker Chambers and an uncompleted one of William F. Buckley — all but his hat size has been parsed and glossed with the earnestness of old-time Kremlinology. Literary insiders have done everything to divine his standards except, typically, to read a whole book Tanenhaus wrote on the subject in 1984.”
American Troops Bring Along The Pop Culture
The modern American soldier carries his/r pop culture along to war, toting, MP3 players, satellite dishes, and DVD players. “When a day’s combat patrol or reconstruction mission is over, the troops join the global consumer culture, retreating into the the privacy of headphones to recapture a bit of territory in the war zone, free from the collective of military life. The new technologies have had a potent impact on the military, ending its monopoly over the supply of news and entertainment for American troops serving in a foreign land whose borders include a language barrier.”
Mancini In The Mail
The US Postal Service has honored Henry Mancini with a postage stamp. “Formal first day of issue ceremonies for the 37-cent stamp were held in Los Angeles. The stamp will be available nationwide Wednesday. Mancini is known for his television theme songs and movie scores. He composed “Moon River” for the film “Breakfast at Tiffany’s,” as well as the themes for “Peter Gunn” and “Days of Wine and Roses.”
FCC Smut Crackdown Scares Off Victoria’s Secret
The annual Victoria’s Secret televised fashion show has been canceled this year. Why? “The furor over indecency on the air, which has already led to a massive crackdown – including big fines against shock jock Howard Stern – is being blamed in part for the end of the sexy TV fashion show.”
The New Yorker In California
Some like to put down California for a lack of culture. So what to make of the fact that The New Yorker magazine now sells more copies in California than in New York? “For the six-month period that ended Dec. 31, California had a total paid circulation of 167,583, compared with New York’s 166,630. What this will do to the well-worn clichés about California is uncertain. The Atlantic Monthly also has more subscribers here than in any other state.”