Terry Gross is host of Fresh Air, one of America’s public radio top interview shows. But WHYY in Philadelphia, where the show originates, doesn’t list Gross among its top-paid employees. In 2001, Gross earned $85,000, making her one of the lowest-paid national hosts. “In an interview, Gross said she had considered herself underpaid compared with other hosts of nationally aired public radio shows. Since then, though, the station has raised her salary ‘substantially,’ she said. ‘I’m satisfied,’ she said.”
Tag: 02.24.03
Movie Studios, Electronics Firms Meet To Combat Piracy
Holly wood movie studios and electronics companies are meeting to find ways to stop illegal copying of movies. “The new group will explore ways to use electronic watermarks and other signaling techniques that could remain embedded in a program after it’s converted to analog. Many DVD recorders already incorporate one such technology, which hides copying restrictions within an unused portion of a standard TV picture.”
Are Our Public Universities Endangered?
“Slashing support for public colleges, of course, is part of the ebb and flow of economic cycles. In bad times, state lawmakers use public higher education to balance their budgets, knowing that the institutions can raise tuition rates. Then, in good times, lawmakers funnel money back to the colleges to make up for the down years. It has worked that way for decades. But this time might be different.” Is a wave of privatization of public universities in the works?
Movies Without The Books
Is it important to read the book that a movie is based on before seeing the movie? Not at all. In some cases, knowing the book may make it difficult to enjoy the adaptation. “A film may be well able to stand on its own without comparison to its source. To dwell on changes from the origin can load the film with obligations that may be aesthetically irrelevant.”
Parting Company?
“Companies have become part of the furniture of our lives. Most of us work for them. They make almost everything we buy. Most of our savings are tied up in them. Yet now the furniture seems uncomfortable, broken or downright dangerous. Companies are cutting back jobs and slashing pensions. Far from proving a reliable source of future wealth, they seem to be picking the money out of our pockets. Above all, many who have worked most of their lives in companies have suddenly discovered that they are curiously impersonal things…”
Arts Are Worth Investing In
“Do the states have budgetary problems? Absolutely. Do they need to sacrifice because of the shortfalls? Absolutely. Do important programs need to be trimmed? Yes, without question. But wipe out arts budgets altogether? No. The arts are a medium into our future. They are our vehicles for introspection, enlightenment and pleasure. They can’t be manufactured, reproduced or legislated. We need to identify the new artists, nurture their gifts and support them, irrespective of how difficult it will be to afford them.”
San Jose Economic Impact Study Measures Arts
A new economic impact study in San Jose “estimates the non-profit arts industry contributed $177 million to the San Jose economy during the 2001-2002 fiscal year. The study also says the industry contributed almost 6,000 jobs.” So how come the city’s arts institutions are in such financial danger? The city’s arts leaders are meeting to plot a strategy.
Creativity? Check. Inspiration? Check. Good Business? That Too…
“If you can’t be convinced that the arts deserve support for how they enrich our lives, how they feed the creativity that leads to the genius of high technology and other endeavors, or how they create a quality of life necessary to attract and keep a great workforce, consider simple economics.”
Is Random House Unraveling?
Some of Random House’s biggest writers are considering leaving the publisher “after the ouster five weeks ago of its publisher and editor in chief, Ann Godoff, who soon began seeking to lure many of them to a new imprint. The shake-up is raising questions among authors, agents and critics about the future of the venerable Random House imprint, the home of William Faulkner, Robert Penn Warren and Truman Capote, and an important institution in modern American letters.”
Alex Ross Remembers Lou Harrison:
“A roly-poly guy who reminded everyone of a sun-kissed Santa Claus, Harrison seemed for a long time to be the only happy composer in America; unlike so many of his congenitally embittered ivory-tower colleagues, he not only accepted his marginal status in the nation’s culture but revelled in it. Yet he was, in many ways, an imposing figure—at once the prophet of the minimalist movement and the last vital representative of the mighty populist generation led by Aaron Copland.”