Reversals of fortune are nothing unusual in the news business. But in the last few weeks it’s been gobsmacking to see Vice facing bankruptcy and BuzzFeed shuttering its news division. The Times, meanwhile, hit its goal of 10 million paying subscribers and aims to have 15 million by the end of 2027. - Vanity Fair
"Decent we have, sometimes even good: well-made, professional. But wild, indelible, commanding us without appeal to change our lives? I don't think we even remember what that feels like. … Art is bland and unimaginative because we have landed ourselves in the lamentable position of getting exactly what we want." - Tablet
The case, Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts v. Goldsmith, No. 21-869, concerned the limits of the fair-use defense, which allows copying that would otherwise be unlawful if it involves activities like criticism and news reporting. - The New York Times
As long as objects have been plundered, countries have called for their repatriation. Yet western popular culture has muted these voices, sometimes expressing anxiety over colonial plunder but ultimately reaffirming British and American supremacy. - The Conversation
The stage and film director, former head of the National Theatre in London, argues for two different (and, of course, generously financed) government funding bodies along the lines of those already in place for sports: one for elite/Olympic-level performance and one for community activities. - The Guardian
Diego Galafassi, who researches the role of the arts in sustainability, argues the arts can foster the disposition and imagination required to address the climate crisis. Arts activities can provoke positive emotions such as hope, responsibility, care and solidarity that, in turn, inspire resilience and climate action. - The Conversation
"In reality, it's very easy to use AI to do the lion's share of the thinking while still submitting work that looks like your own. ... It follows that massive structural change is needed if our schools are going to keep training students to think critically." - The Chronicle of Higher Education
The algorithm. The almighty, disgusting, algorithm, which prizes popularity above all things. So, for Netflix, the race to the bottom started with the success of Tiger King. - El País (Spain)
"The writers strike on May 2 has created hardships for many in the industry, including IATSE members who have lost scheduled jobs as productions shuttered. Fundamentally, however, IATSE members are facing the same challenges of maintaining historic income levels amid historic shifts." - Variety
"The school will be known as the Harry W. Bass Jr. School of Arts, Humanities and Technology. The largesse of the Bass Foundation follows a wave of philanthropic endowments in recent years that have dramatically reshaped the Richardson campus of a university founded in 1969." - MSN (The Dallas Morning News)
Today, as costs of living soar and working-class artists still wrestle with the remnants of the pandemic, the creative culture that has been our calling card is facing a crisis. - The Tennessean
Journals are awash in a rising tide of scientific manuscripts from paper mills—secretive businesses that allow researchers to pad their publication records by paying for fake papers or undeserved authorship. “Paper mills have made a fortune by basically attacking a system that has had no idea how to cope with this stuff." - Science
They're a big business, attracting Barcelonans and tourists alike, but, thanks to rising sea levels and heavier storms, the city's beaches are eroding fast. In recent years they've been replenished with dredged sand, but Catalonia's government (to city officials' dismay) says that effort is futile and should end. - The Guardian
"While an estimated 15,000 new arts teachers are needed statewide, (fewer) than 5,000 are currently credentialed in music, dance, theater, visual arts and media arts. ... Schools will also have to find time for arts classes in a day packed with academics and locate facilities (for) the courses." - Capitol Weekly (Sacramento)
Absolutely, the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation is expanding the stories being told there to include Blacks, Native Americans, and even LGBTQ people. CEO Cliff Fleet rejects conservative criticism, saying that the Foundation is presenting "fact-based history. … Everything is going to be what actually happened." - The New York Times
