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Italy’s Public Broadcaster Has Been Turned Into Propaganda Machine

The broadcaster has undergone a series of radical transformations, often referred to using the shorthand TeleMeloni. A monologue in which the writer Antonio Scurati was set to criticize Italy’s “post-fascist” leaders for failing to repudiate their neofascist origins was canceled. - Columbia Journalism Review

Data: Venice’s Tourist Visitor Tax Didn’t Reduce Crowds

Data found that during the 29 dates the initial €5 access fee was in force in 2024, Venice received on average 7,000 more visitors compared to the same days of the previous year. With a population of fewer than 50,000 residents, the city receives around 40,000 tourists a day. - The Art Newspaper

Does This Skating Company Do Contemporary Dance On Ice? Well, No … But Also Yes?

The artistic director of the Montreal-based troupe Le Patin Libre ("free skate") stresses that audiences shouldn't expect anything like Merce Cunningham or Pina Bausch or Alvin Ailey but in an ice rink. Yet their work is to conventional figure skating something like what contemporary dance is to ballet. - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)

Paris Opera Dancers On Strike

The strike, following unsuccessful negotiations, concerns the remuneration of preparation time before performances. According to the union, only six hours of monthly preparation are paid, compared to a real average of 30 hours. - Gramilano

Warner Restructures Its Networks Into Streaming And Not

The company's new global linear networks division will house its networks of news, sports, scripted and unscripted programming like CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV and the Food Network. A streaming and studios unit will house WBD's film studios and streaming platform Max. - CNBC (MSN)

Warner Bros. Discovery Is Dividing Itself In Two

"(The giant media conglomerate) said it is restructuring into two operating divisions, one focused on the legacy cable TV business and the other on streaming and studios, a move that could set the company up for dealmaking down the road." - The Wall Street Journal (MSN)

Seattle Art Museum Guards Agree To New Contract

“While we did not secure all the improvements we had hoped for, the union was able to secure a number of wage and benefit improvements that went far beyond what SAM leadership initially offered,” the SAM VSO Union said. - Seattle Times

Harper Collins’ CEO Has Some Ideas About AI In Publishing…

 “A book sits atop a large language model, allowing readers to converse with an A.I. facsimile of its author.” At last: No more having to think about the meaning of complicated passages, or trace the lines of thought that got an author from A to B. - AV Club

Makin’ The Bacon For Broadway’s “Our Town” (Yes, We Mean Real Bacon)

To add sense memory to the penultimate scene, the prop crew cooks two pounds of bacon during every performance, using a box fan to blow the aroma onto the stage and into the audience. And every Wednesday there's a BLT party to use it all up. - The New York Times

Editor Who Published Hacked Sony Emails 10 Years Ago Now Confesses His Regret

Andrew Wallenstein, then-co-editor-in-chief of Variety: "I’m not going to say if I had to do it all over again I would do it differently because I understand why I did what I did then. But looking back on the hack, I wish I’d taken a different tack. Let me explain why." - Variety

YouTube Viewership On Real Television Sets Is Soaring, And The Company Is Finally Leaning Into That

"YouTube just released some new stats that show how the service is being consumed on televisions, and the numbers are enormous. … The trend hasn’t changed in forever, but YouTube has spent the last couple of years finally doing something about it." - The Verge

These Replicas Could Solve The Problem Of The Parthenon Marbles

"If the Marbles return to the Acropolis, the hole they will leave in the British Museum may be filled by perfect replicas. The Oxford-based Institute for Digital Archaeology uses robot sculptors following detailed computer scans to carve copies that are accurate to within fractions of a millimetre." - The Telegraph (UK) (MSN)

Can Literary Prizes Survive If Writers Keep Protesting Against The Sponsors?

"Might these events deter future winners of prizes with controversial sponsors" — the Baillie Gifford prize in the UK, the Scotiabank Giller Prize in Canada, and so on — "from accepting prizes or prize money, and could that threaten those prizes’ funding?" - The Guardian

San Francisco Symphony Chorus Gets New Contract, Thanks To $4 Million Gift

"The deal … promises to maintain the current compensation and performance levels for the 32 paid choristers during the 2024-25 and 2025-26 seasons. … The breakthrough, which includes retroactive application of the agreement from Aug. 1, was made possible by the generous donation from an anonymous patron." - San Francisco Chronicle (MSN)

London’s Barbican Centre Gets $243 Million In City Funding For Major Overhaul

"A £191 million funding package to support critical repairs and upgrades at (the arts complex) were approved on Thursday … (by) the City of London Corporation." The grant is about 80% of what's needed for the project; fundraising for the rest begins next year, with construction to start in 2027. - The Standard (London)

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