“Over the past decade, as media conglomerates dumped public-affairs programming in favor of “infotainment” and tabloid trash, NPR recognized the void and moved to fill it with high-quality news reporting. That news-oriented model, by drawing in listeners hungry for substantial coverage of politics and public affairs, has enabled NPR to thrive: Today, it continues to add correspondents and bureaus at a time when most other major news organizations are trimming them. A fair-minded evaluation must conclude that if NPR has turned its back on some of the values enshrined in its original mission statement, it has also, in other ways and despite enormous political pressure from its detractors, remained true to them as well. But a price was paid on the road to respectability.”
Tag: 05.05.05
It’s Tony Season Again
“With 39 productions, this has been a bustling Broadway season, one of the busiest in more than a decade. So the joy of those anointed could be tempered by a nagging question: Who will be left out when the 2005 Tony Awards nominations are announced May 10? There may be a few surprises.”
End Of The Age Of Irony?
The 90s were the Age of Irony. It was an art, actually… But Scott McLamee sees some distressing signs that irony is… soooo yesterday.
In-phone-tainment Endangered By Anti-Piracy
Could entertainment content long promised for mobile phones be derailed by anti-piracy measures? “At issue is a set of technologies aimed at protecting music and other content from being indiscriminately copied after being sold through mobile phone networks, a critical component of the new content services if record labels and movie studios are to sign on.”
Should Canadian Content Rules Be Revised?
A group of Canadian indie bands wants the federal government to revise broadcast rules for Canadian content on the airwaves. “The Toronto-based Indie Pool, which says it represents more than 40,000 indie artists in Canada, wants developing artists to get more CanCon “weight” than established ones, so that up-and-comers are not squashed by the big stars. The reason why CanCon is failing is because it worked.”
The US Senate’s Culture Club
“Four U.S. senators are spearheading the formation of a new bipartisan Senate caucus to promote the vital role the arts and humanities play in American life — a coalition that will likely serve as a strong base of support for pro-arts legislation in Congress’ upper house.”
Beethoven Free For All
The BBC is playing the complete works of Beethoven. “These concerts will be aired on Radio 3 and ‘streamed’ for a week on the website. This, as never before, is Beethoven for free – a gift to the world, just as the longsuffering composer might have wished. So radical is this departure from all prior conventions of broadcasting and distributing works of music that the consequences are simply uncalculated. No-one knows if ten people or ten million will download the Beethoven symphonies and whether, if kept, they will form the cornerstone for a new habit of hoarding classical music, a surrogate for record buying.”
New OED Debuts
The New Oxford American Dictionary publishes a new edition electronically (and on paper too). “Of the new dictionary’s more than a quarter million entries, about 2,000 were added since the first edition came out in 2001. Words that gained currency in American English over the last four years, and gained entry in NOAD, include “bridezilla” (“an overzealous bride-to-be who acts irrationally or causes offense”) and “speed dating” (“a social activity in which equal complements of potential partners spend a few minutes in short interviews with all other participants in order to determine whether there is interest”).”
Tate Modern – More Than A Museum, A Tourist Attraction
“Tate Modern is five years old next week. By any terms, it is a success. In fact, it often feels swamped by its own popularity. Since it opened in May 2000, almost 22 million visitors will have passed through its doors, double the number originally estimated. They thought they had a museum. Instead, they have a tourist attraction.”
Blue Man Dispute Escalates
“Vowing to kick their campaign up a notch, theatrical unions have unveiled a bright yellow, 700-square-foot billboard as the next phase of their Blue Man Group boycott. ‘Why won’t the Blue Man Group work with us?’ asks the billboard, which is just south of the Panasonic Theatre where the Blue Man production is slated to open next month. A lunchtime information picket was held yesterday outside the theatre to mark the unveiling of the billboard. The unions — Canadian Actors’ Equity, Toronto Musicians’ Association, and Locals 58 and 822 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees — are angry at the Blue Man Group’s refusal to sit down and work with the unions on issues such as wages and benefits.”