"1. It is a truth universally acknowledged that democratic governments who produce National Cultural Policies sound decidedly naff. Sorry, but there's no escaping it. If they aim for the high ground, they come across as pretentious. If they focus on deliverables, they seem venal." - ArtsHub (Australia)
While this Ministry of Culture and Heritage announcement is money already in the kitty for the sector’s from the COVID recovery fund rather than newly allotted spending, it’s unsurprisingly been well received - the creative community has been abuzz in a way unseen in a long time. - The Big Idea
Microsoft is incorporating ChatGPT into Bing, and Google's at work on its own AI bot, called Bard, for its search engine. Organizations are very dependent on search engines to bring their sites traffic. If that traffic disappears, the Web's entire ecosystem changes — and nobody knows how. - Nieman Lab
Following last year's outcry over an even-larger-than-usual mismatch between the supply of and the demand for arts funding, the government has given Creative New Zealand a one-time boost of NZ$22 million (US$13.87 million) — on top of the agency's regular grant budget, most recently NZ$17 million. - The Big Idea (New Zealand)
No, it's not a matter of left-wing bias — on the part of the software (which is not alive and cannot think) or of the programmers. There may have been bias involved (that isn't clear), but if there was, that bias isn't political, writes Reed Albergotti. - Semafor
Frazer has expressed little or no interest in the UK’s creative industries publicly. One of her few interventions came in 2021 when, as Financial Secretary to the Treasury, she heralded the success of UK’s high-end tax breaks. - Deadline
Mark Harris: "The fact that these have even become urgent questions has to do, in large part, with the collision of Gen Z's approach to sexuality, which is very flexible, and its approach to culture, which is not." - T — The New York Times Style Magazine
In the so-called concern about the left ruling the campuses, what we actually have is an onslaught by the right wing to control what we read, who we talk to, and what we talk about. - The New Yorker
"Should they be returned to the streets, or destroyed? Should they be contextualized and put on display? Or perhaps the bronze should be melted down, with the hundreds of tons of marble and granite put to use for better purposes?" - El País
What's the issue? A demand to return to in-person work ... for no real reason. "The contractors are paid as little as $19 an hour, making it difficult to afford the relocation, travel, or childcare costs that they didn’t have to pay when working remotely." - The Verge
"Work by the UK Trade and Business Commission found that ... had Brexit never happened, the UK's creative industries would have received an additional €184 million (£164 million, $201 million), based on the total funds they received last cycle." - The National (Scotland)
"Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events on Thursday announced $11 million in grants for nonprofit arts organizations, including via a new Chicago Arts Recovery Program." - MSN (Chicago Tribune)
Whereas Madison Square Garden is using face recognition to deny entry to people previously expelled from the venue—and certain lawyers—many stadium and entertainment center operators are testing the technology to let people inside. - Wired
