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Nielsen’s Accreditation For National TV Ratings Suspended

"The suspension is the latest salvo in a months-long joust between TV networks and the company that has long tabulated (their) viewership, … (as the) industry (seeks) a new yardstick as its audiences light out for new digital territory." - Variety

Composer Mikis Theodorakis, 96

"He was known outside Greece for the remarkable scope of his talent — a catalogue of more than 1,000 songs, film scores, symphonies, operas and other works — but he also was widely viewed in his homeland as the conscience of political resistance." - The Washington Post

Edinburgh Festivals Bounce Back From COVID, Selling More Than Half A Million Tickets

With pandemic restrictions (excepting some audience capacity limits) lifted just around opening day, 520,000 tickets were sold for events at the International, Book, Film, and Fringe Festivals. The great majority of those, 400,000, were for Fringe events, and another 350,000 people watched Fringe shows online. - The Scotsman

How Do We Get Beyond A Rush To Judgment?

The modern online public sphere, a place of rapid conclusions, rigid ideological prisms, and arguments of 280 characters, favors neither nuance nor ambiguity. - The Atlantic

Collector Buys Fake Banksy NFT

The piece did enough to convince a buyer – confusingly named Pranksy – to pay the equivalent of hundreds of thousands of pounds only to have the currency returned after what appeared to be an elaborate hoax by a scammer. - The Guardian

About That Basquiat Painting in Tiffany Blue…

Basquiat died in 1988 at 27, but in the last few days all sorts of people with various relationships to both him and his work have come out with their own theories on the painting’s origin story. - The New York Times

Romance Writers Of America Rescinds Award Over Genocide Charges

Romance Writers of America, which earlier this month rescinded an award given to the 2020 novel “At Love’s Command” over complaints that it “romanticized genocide” against Native Americans. - The New York Times

Why Wikipedia Has A Compelling Need To Transcend Languages

Wikipedia leaders presented a new initiative that could theoretically unify the information presented by all of the other Wikipedias, a proposed language-independent encyclopedia that has been generating buzz... - Slate

Francesca Harper Named New Artistic Director Of Alvin Ailey II

Her mother, Denise Jefferson, directed the Ailey School from 1984 until her death in 2010. Harper didn’t just attend dance classes at the school; she practically grew up there. - The New York Times

Diana Taylor, Michael Bloomberg’s Partner, Named New York City Ballet Board Chair

A longtime banking professional in both the private and government sectors and the first woman to chair the board of directors in the company's history, says that City Ballet has remained in "pretty good shape" financially through the pandemic. - The New York Times

Youth Radio Station Pokes Fun At Older Music Fans In A Tweet (It Didn’t Go Well)

“Did it hurt? When you aged out of the youth radio station,” the national youth broadcaster tweeted. - The Guardian

Mosul Had A Beloved Street Of Bookstores. Only One Has Reopened Since ISIS Was Driven Out.

"Not long ago, it was one of countless bookstores along the wide avenue lined with arched windows and doorways. … Four years after the liberation of Mosul in 2017, Maktaba al-Sham is the first, and so far the only, bookshop to return to Najafi Street." - Atlas Obscura

Nation-building Abroad? We’re Not Very Good At It At Home Either

"I know something about this rhetorical vagary because it involves nominally the same efforts America supposedly applies to strengthen its own communities that are “vulnerable,” “underserved,” “traditionally overlooked” — you choose the euphemism for poor." - Medium

Without Warning, Board Of Documentary Festival Locks Out Entire Programming Staff

Days after Sheffield DocFest artistic director Cintia Gil departed over "artistic differences," seven festival programmers found themselves locked out of their email accounts and scrubbed from the website. - Variety

Facebook Admits: Engagement Might Not Be The Gold Standard

Optimizing for engagement is at the heart of many of the criticisms of social platforms. An algorithm that’s too focused on engagement might push users toward content that might be super engaging but of low social value. - Wired

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