“Alistair Cooke’s suave and debonair on-camera persona was not the whole story. He was not English, but American, giving up his British passport in 1941, as bombs rained down during the Blitz. For this act, some in the BBC never forgave him. He loved America passionately, and saw it as an open and optimistic alternative to the grim class-bound world he had left.”
Tag: 03.31.04
How To Protect Your Children, The V-Chip Way
The last time that Americans and their government got their knickers in a twist over supposedly “obscene” content on television, the result of the brouhaha was the much-heralded V-Chip, which was mandated for all new TV sets, and which provided concerned parents with a way to prevent their children from viewing inappropriate programming, even when unsupervised. But, in what could be seen as a measure of just how much ordinary Americans actually care about this issue, it turns out that virtually no one uses their V-chip, and many parents don’t even know (or care) how to turn it on. So the government has launched a new ad campaign to tell viewers all about it.
Can Art Cross State Lines?
Creating a workable formula for local arts funding is always a tricky project, but when your metropolitan area spans two different states, it becomes a major headache. Kansas City has struggled with different funding methods for years, and now, the city’s Metropolitan Cultural Fund has proposed a new system under which arts groups from across the region would compete for multiple “pools” of funding, which would come from a multicounty, bistate tax. But opposition is already being marshaled to the plan, which would require voters in all affected counties in both Missouri and Kansas to approve the new tax. Some opponents just plain don’t like public arts grants, but others consider it an issue of state sovereignty.
Winnipeg Symphony Buys Some More Time
The provincial government of Manitoba is giving the financially strapped Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra another year to pay off it’s CAN$1.3 million credit line which was guaranteed by the province in 1999. In addition the WSO will receive two additional $75,000 grants for the current year, as the organization struggles to return to fiscal solvency. The moves were welcomed by orchestra supporters, but some taxpayer advocacy groups were upset at the news, pointing out that Manitoba is running a deficit of its own, and can ill-afford to be subsidizing a money-losing symphony.
EMI Announces Major Cuts
The British-based EMI label has announced that it will lay off 1500 workers in Europe and the US, consolidate several of its record labels, and begin outsourcing much of its CD production to other companies, in a move which the company hopes will save it $91 million per year. EMI has had a somewhat troubled history in recent years, as it attempted to buy or merge with multiple other global music companies such as Bertelsmann and Warner Music, mergers which ultimately failed. The cost-cutting moves will actually cost EMI money in the short term, but may stabilize some long-term operations.
France Joins The Lawsuit Party
France’s recording industry (which goes by the snappy acronym SNEP) has announced that it will follow the lead of the American and British industries and begin suing consumers who illegally download and share music online. In recent days, an international recording federation sued 247 people in Italy, Germany, Canada, and Denmark, and the U.S.-based RIAA has sued more than a thousand file-swappers over the past year. The decision by French companies to jump into the fray is significant, because “French law does not offer the same levels of protection to copyright holders as British and American laws afford.”
The Global (And Somewhat Garbled) UN Collection
The United Nations is supposed to be a forum for international diplomacy, but over the decades of its existence, it has become something of an accidental museum as well. “As a collector and custodian of art, the United Nations occupies a unique, and uniquely awkward, position. Since much of its authority rests on the sovereign equality of its member nations, it cannot comfortably refuse a gift from any of them. The objects on display are therefore of wildly uneven quality and provenance, and cannot be easily organized in terms of medium, period, style, subject, technique or geographical origin. It is a kaleidoscopic, but not overly coherent, collection.”
MOMA’s Main Man
When Glenn Lowry took over the reins at New York’s Museum of Modern Art nearly a decade ago, news of his appointment didn’t exactly set the art world on fire. But in his years at the helm of one of America’s most visible museums, Lowry has made himself indispensible, and is now credited with having made possible the Modern’s upcoming move to a huge new “campus” in midtown Manhattan. “Currently put at $858 million (including financing for endowment), the makeover is certainly one of the most expensive in museum history. And to date, the capital campaign is less than $200 million short of its goal.” And to hear MOMA supporters tell it, credit for that funding success goes directly to Glenn Lowry.
The Mating Dance Of Art Acquisition
“Today, buying art with income from endowments is next to impossible for most museums, even in the world of contemporary art, which used to be considered affordable. As a result, museums that want to grow their holdings must rely on collectors.” But the collector targeted by one museum is likely being wooed by several others as well, and the result of this complicated dance is a curious blend of hypercompetitive gladhanding and subtle begging. Some in the art world bemoan this state of affairs, and long for a return to the days when museums could afford to simply buy the pieces they wanted to display. But some curators seem to live for the thrill of the gentrified chase.
Broadway Actors, Producers To Clash Over Touring Shows
“The last time Broadway producers faced off with a major labor union — the musicians union in March 2003 — the results were disastrous. Talks broke down at the 11th hour, resulting in a four-day strike on Broadway that shut down 17 musicals and cost the industry $5 million. Starting tomorrow Actors’ Equity, the actors’ and stage managers’ union, will sit down opposite the League of American Theaters and Producers. Both sides agree that to avoid another strike they will have to come to terms with the knotty problem of non-Equity tours of Broadway shows.” But it’s not a cut-and-dry issue, and no one really knows how far Broadway actors are willing to go to protect theoretical union gigs in touring shows.