Wal-Mart is the biggest single retailer of magazines’ newsstand sales, “accounting for what industry executives peg as at least 15% of all such sales. It holds that place despite some selectivity in choosing which magazines to stock in its stores.” That “selectivity” includes a “moral” standard that now has a big impact on how magazines are sold.
Tag: 10.06.03
Why Does An Author’s Ethnicity Matter?
Booker favorite Monica Ali is the object of much speculation about her ethnicity. “The cult of the ethnic author is infuriating for the simple reason that it takes the focus away from the work. Who cares if Ali is ‘black’ or ‘white,’ or whether she was closer to her Mum or her Abba? People have been so wrapped up in Ali that few have bothered with critical examination of the book.”
Oakland Ballet Postpones
The Oakland Ballet has postponed its second program of the season, citing financial difficulties.
The BBC, (Partly) Online
Recently the BBC announced it would put all of its archives online, available free over the internet. The initiative, “if successful, could enable viewers to download some of the 1.5 million TV programmes and 750,000 radio shows hitherto buried in the BBC archive. To enable viewers to download their favourite programmes, both archive and current, the BBC is developing a new internet media player or IMP.” But, predictably, there are numerous issues to be worked out. And the likelihood of getting all the BBC’s shows online isn’t likely…
How To Kill A News Network
For decades, the voice of news in Quebec was Radio Canada. But “since the network relaunched its flagship news programs on Sept. 1, viewers have abandoned Radio-Canada in droves and discussions of its botched effort to inject a ‘convivial’ tone into its broadcasts have become water-cooler common in Quebec.”
Stowell: Putting the Ballet Back Into Oregon
Christopher Stowell, who has taken over as artistic director of Oregon Ballet Theatre, is putting the “ballet” back in the company. Not that it was ever really missing, of course, it was just offstage…
Borders To Ask Publishers To Remove Prices
Giant book seller Borders is hoping to convince publishers not to print prices on their books. “Bookselling is one of the few retail environments where the price is fixed by the supplier of the goods and not by the seller. When the retailer can control pricing, we have the opportunity to use price as a lever to accomplish all kinds of positive objectives that benefit the publishers, customers and the retailer.”
Let It Skate – Rolling Along With Rodolfo And Mimi
How about a “La Boheme” on roller skates? “The populist impresario Raymond Gubbay, who has a track record of bringing new audiences as well as new tricks to opera, unveiled plans for a £2m production of Puccini’s work at the Royal Albert Hall in February.”
British Museum: Absolutely, Positively No Return Of Parthenon Marbles
The British Museum has slammed the door on any hopes of Greece getting back the Parthenon Marbles. The museum says that “it was the museum’s duty to preserve the universality of the marbles, and to protect them from being appropriated as a nationalistic political symbol. But with half of the marbles still in Greece, and with a museum being built to house them at the foot of the Acropolis, campaigners for their return said that they found the British Museum’s attitude insulting”.
Saving St. Paul’s (Really?)
Restoration of Christopher Wren’s flawed but historic St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, is controversial, even after years of debate. “What a circus! This is a seriously misconceived restoration, technically insane, with reckless levels of chemicals, and a historical fraud. We’ve come to learn that the bigger the restoration, the more ambitious the project, the greater the funding, the more out of control these things get.”