The FCC is proposing to fine CBS the maximum allowable amount – $550,000 – for the now-infamous on-air baring of Janet Jackson’s right breast during the Super Bowl halftime show. The fines would officially be levied against 20 CBS “O&O’s” – affiliate stations which are owned and operated by the New York-based network. The FCC, which has been accused in recent months of being on a witchhunt, had vowed to review the incident, which prompted the recent government crackdown on supposedly indecent material airing on American TV and radio.
Tag: 07.01.04
Bringing Some Color To The WTC Memorial
J. Max Bond, the architect in charge of the World Trade Center memorial, is a master of diplomacy, of bridging differences between competing artistic personalities. He is one of the most respected men in his profession. And he is African-American, astonishingly enough the first to be involved in the Ground Zero project in any way. “With the inclusion of Bond (and Richard Franklin, another African American colleague from his firm), the white male club at Ground Zero has been integrated. It is the story of Bond’s life.”
Times (NY) Raids Times (LA) For Culture Writers
“In the past week, the NYT captured three high-profile entertainment/culture writers from the LAT — film critic Manohla Dargis, music business writer Jeff Leeds and architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff. Already in the dumps over parent company Tribune Co.–ordered layoffs, the LAT newsroom was in a bunker mentality anticipating the dampening effect the NYT’s body snatching would have on its Pulitzer-pumped national prestige. And someone needs to argue with the LAT’s bean counters that the year-old controversial subscription model for its online Calendar coverage may be sending at least some of its superstar scribblers into the arms of the enemy.”
The Magazine Boom (Will It Ever Bust?)
When will there be enough magazines? Not anytime soon, apparently. “Consider Plenty, coming in November, for upscale conservationists who are into hybrid cars.” Or what about Conceive, dedicated to the singular subject of, well, conception (the kind that involves babies)? “Then there’s Justine, a pun on ‘just teen,’ which came out in April, targeting a demographic of hip, wholesome girls who don’t want headlines about sex tips on a magazine cover lest they die of embarrassment in front of their fathers or boyfriends.” It’s all about niche marketing.
New Director For Montreal MOCA
“The Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal announced Monday the appointment of 48-year-old, Sudbury-born anglo-francophone Marc Mayer as director, bringing an end to Marcel Brisebois’s 19-year-long reign there.” Mayer has been the deputy art director for the Brooklyn Museum since September 2001.
Turning Ideology Into Consumable Pop
Consider the various political acts which have recently burst onto the American popular culture radar – Bill Clinton’s book tour; Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11; Howard Stern’s self-martyring rants against the FCC crackdown; Mel Gibson’s Passion of the Christ – and it becomes clear that today’s most successful ideologues are those who have managed to cross the line between serious political debate and pop culture mass marketing. While many Americans are still wary of anything that smacks of intellectualism, no one seems to be hesitant to voice an opinion on any intellectual issue that can be marketed on Oprah or Larry King. Is it a new era of national debate, or just the latest cynical marketing device proving its worth?
Everybody Dances!
The Mark Morris Dance Company’s annual residency at Tanglewood has developed into one of the more collaborative projects ever undertaken at the New England music center. “The unique aspect of the Tanglewood project is that the musicians – singers and instrumentalists alike – learn Morris’s choreography as well; they learn to put the music into their bodies in a different way. They not only rehearse one movement of the music they will be playing; they actually perform it, for an invited audience of staff, friends, and fellow students.”
E-Mail Intercepting Is Officially Legal
When Bradford Councilman, the owner of a web site hawking rare and unique books, offered his customers a free e-mail service, he didn’t tell them that he had “installed code that intercepted and copied any e-mail that came to them from his competitor, Amazon.com. Although Councilman did not prevent the mail from reaching recipients, he read thousands of copied messages in order to know what books customers were seeking and gain a commercial advantage over Amazon.” However, in a surprise ruling, a Massachusetts court has found that Councilman did not violate any laws, effectively legalizing such tactics, and setting up a howl from privacy advocates.
Actually, On Second Thought, We’re Fine, Thanks
When the British government closed a tax loophole covering the private funding of major films, the UK film industry went ballistic, claiming that the change would literally kill off the nation’s movie business. A few months on, however, the industry is admitting that new sources of funding have been found, and nothing has really changed. In fact, experts expect “the numbers of films and jobs in the industry in 2004 to end up roughly the same as 2003.”
Taking On iPod
Sony plans to take on Apple directly in the coming months, launching a new digital version of its famous Walkman to compete with Apple’s iPod. The company claims that its player will cost significantly less than the iPod, and will store as many as 3,000 more songs. The player, which will play only songs encoded in Sony’s own format, debuts this month in Japan, and hits U.S. stores in August.