Clear Channel, the largest radio broadcaster in the U.S., has agreed to pay $1.75 million in fines over on-air comments by shock jock Howard Stern which the FCC has deemed “obscene.” The amount being shelled out is a record in the industry, and while the FCC is trumpeting the settlement as a “victory for the American public,” it is likely that Stern will use the occasion to take his bombastic campaign against President Bush and the conservative-controlled FCC up yet another notch. Clear Channel dropped Stern from all of its stations earlier this spring.
Tag: 06.09.04
Paging Eliot Ness
Two Silicon Valley art galleries were suddenly and unexpectedly raided by California law enforcement officials last week for illegally serving alcohol on the premises, with an official charge of misdemeanor sale/furnishing of alcohol without a permit being leveled against the owners and executives. The crime carries a possible penalty of six months in jail and a $1000 fine. The raid occurred during Palo Alto’s monthly Art Walk event, and gallery officials are complaining about the timing and tone of the raid. The state contends that it warned the galleries in April that they needed a license to serve alcohol, and that the warning was ignored.
Report: State Arts Agencies Must Change Their Tune
A new study notes cuts in funding for US state arts agencies in 2003 and suggests that the cuts are not an aberration. “The reason for these cuts is not just a one-time fiscal crisis, but the political weakness of state arts agencies that has arisen because of a growing mismatch between their roles and structures and the cultural and political realities they face. A shift in the arts agencies’ focus and funding may be a solution, but it cannot take place until important conceptual and practical issues are resolved.”
Why Are There No Canadian Political Movies?
Americans make plenty of movies about politics. But there are few Canadian political movies. “There are many reasons why this is the case. To begin with, Canadians are less willing to make the imaginative leap necessary to enjoy a movie about domestic politics. Where our neighbours to the south are willing to envision, say, Harrison Ford as the commander-in-chief, someone like Kiefer Sutherland would not be accepted in the role of prime minister.”
Musing On WTC Culture
What cultural projects should be grown in Lower Manhattan around the site of the former World Trade Center? A report is critical of the process so far. “We have a vision of Lower Manhattan as an arts mecca,” reads the executive summary, “with clusters of new and existing cultural groups connected by streets identified as arts corridors and signified with public art.”
Reed: The Decline And Fall Of Broadway
Rex Reed pines for the old days of Broadway. “To see how much it’s changed (mostly for the worst) or to experience how little wit, originality, intelligence and quality remains, all you had to do was watch this year’s Tony awards. Whatever happened to the Golden Age of Broadway? When did the miracles end and the ticket prices become prohibitive? Why did the inspiration and sweat and creative genius dry up and get replaced by helicopters and chandeliers and naked, cussing puppets? Does anybody care?”
Tomorrow’s Arts Leaders Today
Where is the next generation of top leadership in the arts going to come from? A new program in the UK spots talented young arts managers on the way up and tries to embue them with just a little extra…
Wagner Defeats Trier
“Bayreuth is again in the news, thanks to the withdrawal of iconoclastic Danish film-maker Lars von Trier from the 2006 Ring. Von Trier’s Ring would have been a splashy event, making headlines well beyond the opera world. He had already worked on the project for two years. Stage mock-ups were to have begun this month. But The Ring has defeated him. This week he was forced to admit he couldn’t realise his ideas within the limitations of a theatre. Given Von Trier’s evocations on film of psychological awareness and the tangled webs of family (Dogville, The Idiots), he was an inspired choice – but an extremely risky one. He said he preferred David Bowie to Wagner. He had no record in theatre or opera.”
NYT Critic Muschamp To Leave Architecture Beat?
“Herbert Muschamp, The New York Times’ fanciful architecture critic, has told his bosses that he’s getting tired of his current duties and intends to step down before long.”
Bach In The Clubs
Cellist Matt Haimovitz on playing classical music in pop music clubs: “There’s a certain kind of music that, for me, belongs in an intimate space. There’s something authentic about playing Bach in a club. We’re always talking about authentic performances, but for me there’s something wrong with putting baroque music in a place like Roy Thomson Hall. It’s much more appropriate in a smaller setting — in something like the coffeehouses Bach was familiar with.”