Category: today’s top story

“Days after the Department of Justice made the blockbuster announcement that it was suing five of the biggest book publishers in the business, the Pulitzer Prize board dropped its own bombshell on Monday: for the first time in 35 years, there would be no Pulitzer winner for fiction.”

“Publishing is not evolving. Publishing is going away. Because the word ‘publishing’ means a cadre of professionals who are taking on the incredible difficulty and complexity and expense of making something public. That’s not a job anymore. That’s a button. There’s a button that says ‘publish,’ and when you press it, it’s done.”

The London Book Fair has invited Chinese authors specifically sanctioned by the state – and that’s far from enough, especially when the event takes public funding. “If British publishing goes along with this grubby stitch-up, it will indeed dishonour not just its best traditions but the best traditions of this country, which we – silly, complacent people that we are – do too little to defend.”

Last year, the 37-year-old Royal Ballet principal “was on the list to replace Monica Mason as the Royal’s own director: and with this growing momentum behind her it was almost inevitable that when Wayne Eagling’s (abrupt) departure from ENB was announced two months ago, it would be Rojo who would step in.”

“It may have escaped enlightened readers hereabouts, but in some newspapers the cultural programme of the 2012 Olympics has come in for some criticism. Specifically, the more adventurous art events have been mocked. And the mockery has drawn blood, for this week Olafur Eliasson’s application for £1m funding for his proposed artwork Take a Deep Breath was turned down by the Olympic Lottery Distributor.”

“Some foreign performers and ensembles, like the Hallé orchestra from Britain, have decided that it is no longer worth their while to play in the United States. Others have been turned down flat, including a pair of bands invited to perform at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Tex., last month, or have ended up canceling performances because of processing delays.”

It suggests users could be offered ads as hyperlinks based within the book’s text, in-laid text or even “dynamic content” such as video. Another idea suggests boxes at the bottom of a page could trail later chapters or quotes saying “brought to you by Company A”.

“The National Endowment for the Arts, a major supporter of PBS shows devoted to performing arts and independent documentaries, is proposing substantial cuts in their financing. Collectively, the cuts, which will not be official until April 25, would strip more than $1 million in federal production aid from PBS shows.”

“An unrelenting march of puberty sweeps voices into rebellion. Over recent decades, the already-short careers of their sopranos have started to end between six months and a year earlier, challenging them at times such as Easter, for which choral music such as J.S. Bach’s St. Matthew Passion was written with difficult lines for boys free of hormonal woes.”

“A federal appeals court judge has revived a $1-billion copyright infringement lawsuit by Viacom Inc.against Google Inc.’sYouTube … [The case] reflected a frantic effort by Viacom to halt unauthorized snippets of its TV shows from showing up online.”