News Summary: 10th March 2010

March 10th, 2010 - 
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Fashion

Four weeks after Alexander McQueen’s death, the collection he had been working on was unveiled in Paris yesterday. This was the last ever collection by Lee Alexander McQueen, but it will not be the last collection to bear the Alexander McQueen name. A week after the designer’s death, it was announced that the label would continue. There has been no announcement as to who will replace McQueen.

A note given to each of yesterday’s audience read, ‘each piece is unique, as was he’. As the 16th outfit disappeared from the catwalk, the audience sat in silence, not yet ready for the spell to be broken. The sound of clapping began backstage, and spread. More in The Guardian HERE; Times HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

Tech

Senior police officers have clashed with Facebook, accusing it of ignoring worrying trends that it is providing a safe haven for predatory paedophiles by refusing to sign up to a ‘panic button’ for children and young people. Jim Gamble, chief executive of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Unit (Ceop), was joined by the country’s lead officer on homicide to tackle the site about its repeated refusal to sign up to a key safety practice adopted by many other similar websites.

The American-owned site has 23 million active users in the UK but refuses to display an official ‘panic button’ that links users directly to Ceop to report suspected activities by predatory paedophiles. More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; and Times HERE.

Music

A report commissioned by Universal Music Group on behalf of the British music industry trade body, the BPI, estimates that Virgin Media, Sky, O2, Orange, BT and TalkTalk could be making between £100 million and £200 million between them per year by 2013 if each of them launched their own music download service. The ISPs could generate approximately £100m per year in total by 2013 if there was only a ‘a medium adoption rate’ of music services (approximately 12,000 consumer sign-ups a month), but if there was an ‘accelerated adoption scenario’ – where 24,000 new subscribers joined each ISPs’ music service per month, the report estimates this revenue figure would double. BPI chief executive Geoff Taylor said:

‘It is increasingly clear that it isn’t smart to be a ‘dumb [broadband] pipe’. This report shows that the revenue potential of digital music services alone makes sound economic sense for ISPs.’ More in The Telegraph HERE.

Pink Floyd took on their record label, EMI, in the High Court yesterday in a dispute over royalties for music downloads. Members of the band, one of EMI’s most successful since they signed in 1967, believe they have been underpaid and that the company should have asked permission to sell songs individually, rather than as complete albums. The dispute centres on a contract clause that says ‘there are no rights to sell any or all of the records as single records other than with [Pink Floyd’s] permission’. The band claims that this applies to their songs in all formats, including those sold online. EMI says it applies only to physical copies. More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Times HERE; and HERE.

Television

Writing in The Guardian HERE, Bob Geldoff accuses the BBC World Service of a ‘total collapse of standards and systems’, threatens it with legal action and calls for the sacking of the reporter behind the story, his editor and the head of the World Service, Peter Horrocks. Geldof and the Band Aid Trust are talking to some of the world’s biggest charities – including Oxfam, Unicef, the Red Cross, Christian Aid and Save the Children – about reporting the BBC to Ofcom and the BBC Trust. More in The Guardian HERE.

Samsung has kicked off the industry-wide push – and battle for brand supremacy – in 3D television by launching a 3D range that will be in British shops by the end of the month. More in The Guardian HERE. Sony in turn yesterday unveiled its 40in and 46in Bravia 3D television sets, saying they would launch in Japan on 10 June and around the world shortly after. More in The Independent HERE. Adam May, a producer with 3D producers and consultants Vision 3, says TV companies have started showing interest in making programmes in 3D; but that the big push to sell the sets will come this Christmas. More in The Guardian HERE.

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Weekend News Summary: 6th/7th March 2010

March 8th, 2010 - 
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BBC

Sir Bob Geldof and the Band Aid trust are to report the BBC to Ofcom over a World Service report that millions of pounds raised for famine victims in Ethiopia in 1985 were actually spent on weapons. A group of Britain’s most respected agencies – including Oxfam, the Red Cross, Unicef, Christian Aid and Save the Children – are joining Band Aid in writing an official complaint to the chairman of the BBC Trust, Sir Michael Lyons. Geldoff, who raised $144m for Africa in the Live Aid concert in 1985, has accused the BBC of ‘wilfully naive reporting’:

‘This is a Ross/Brand moment in BBC standards for me… This story has gone around the world on the internet and created a totally false impression of what actually happened… the BBC has undermined the faith of ordinary people across the world in the effectiveness of giving to people in their hour of need. It is a disgrace.’

Nick Guttman, director of emergency relief operations at Christian Aid has condemned the BBC story as ‘outrageous and very damaging’, whilst Phil Bloomer, director of Oxfam’s campaigns and policy division has said:

‘It is palpable nonsense… We know because we bought the food, we bought the trucks, we took the food in, saw it distributed and then we drove the empty trucks out… you have to ask why the BBC seems to have been prepared to run with these extraordinary claims about our work without even putting in a call to Oxfam before they were broadcast.’ More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Times HERE; Telegraph HERE.

Prominent British Asians have called for the BBC Asian Network to be saved. Actor and writer Meera Syal and Olympic medal-winning boxer Amir Khan and are among the entertainment stars, actors and peers signing a letter – which you can see in The Guardian HERE, urging the BBC to halt the closure of the station. The letter says that the eight-year-old digital broadcaster provides a ‘key platform’ For the national Asian community and:

‘… offers creative British Asian talent an outlet which is demonstrably under-represented in the more mainstream BBC. This would all be tragically lost if these proposals are agreed.’

Jarvis Cocker becomes figurehead of the Save 6Music campaign, more in The Guardian HERE. More on the review in The Guardian HERE; Observer HERE, HERE and HERE; Sunday Times HERE

Amid reports that Chris Evans has sparked 654 official complaints to the BBC with critical messages appearing on his radio show’s message boards, Terry Wogan has written on his blog to fans, or Togs – Terry’s Old Geezers and Gals – who have been particularly vociferous against Evans since he took over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show in January. He said:

‘I asked all Togs to welcome Chris with open minds and hearts, and I know that they have… They know better than most that it took me years and years to build a loyal audience. Chris has had six weeks! I’m trying to build a new audience myself on a Sunday morning… Give us a chance.’ More in The Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

Television

The survey of Britain’s main television channels, carried out for Channel 4 by the Communications Research Group, has found that men still outnumber women by two to one, and that, where they do appear, women predominantly feature in programmes about ‘soft’ issues and older women are kept off the screen. The survey indicates that the position has not changed since 2006, when a BBC report found there were twice as many men on television as women.

Women are equally represented in soaps, but make up just one third of people in factual programmes and even fewer on news bulletins. Women make up just over a third (37%) of those giving their opinion in vox pops. More in The Observer HERE and Sunday Times HERE

Publishing

Robert McCrum argues in The Observer that only belatedly are publishers confronting the implications of the digitisation of literature. He says:

‘Electronic time can seem faster than real time. The transformation of the literary landscape has happened at warp speed and it’s not over yet… So it should come as no surprise that the publishing business, a slave to real time and long lunches, should have been so slow to adapt. The book trade has always been intrinsically conservative… At first, when the Google Books Library Project was launched in 2004, senior UK publishers… instinctively found an ostrich-like default position. If they had understood the digital revolution better, they might have resisted Google’s piracy with an articulate common purpose… As it was, only Nigel Newton of Bloomsbury had the wisdom to pull his head out of the sand and raise the alarm. More HERE.

The sale of The Independent is being held up while Alexander Lebedev tries to strike a better deal with its landlord, the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT). The Independent and London Evening Standard pay a total of £5m a year to DMGT. More in The Sunday Times HERE.

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Weekend News Summary: 30th/ 31st January 2010

February 1st, 2010 - 
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Poetry

Ruth Padel – Oxford’s first female Professor of Poetry until a dirty-tricks scandal led her to resign only 9 days in – talks about sex, lies, poetry, and her ‘moment of lunacy’, in the The Times’ Saturday Review HERE. The Padel interview formed part of Saturday Review’s Poetry Special, which also ran pieces by The Poet Laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, on reading for Haiti and ‘the music of being human’ HERE; Christopher Reid, on his surprise Costa win for an ‘intimate expression of love and grief’ HERE; and former Laureate, Andrew Motion on disproving the contention that there is no audience for poetry; stimulating its teaching in schools and generally extending audience reach HERE. Motion talks of the success of The Poetry Archive (www.poetryarchive.org), which enjoys a regular monthly audience of a quarter of a million people, listening to about 1.25 million pages of poetry.

Theatre

The news just keeps getting better and better for the West End. Further to last week’s announcement of a record-breaking box for 2009 (see our coverage at the time HERE), Sir Cameron Mackintosh has announced his plans to use some of his £635m fortune to endow each of his seven London theatres with enough cash to ensure that their lifespans outlast his own. The lucky theatres now safely tucked under this super-sheltering wing are the Prince Edward; Prince of Wales; Novello; Queen’s; Gielgud; Wyndham’s and Noel Coward. More in The Sunday Times HERE.

Heritage

 

English Heritage received a last-minute appeal on Friday to save The Foundry – a bar, community radio station, and performance venue. The building has played a key part in the contemporary arts boom and features graffiti and murals by the likes of Banksy, Jake and Dino Chapman and Damian Hirst. Despite the protestations of the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, developers plan to replace the building with a hotel. More HERE.

Following the bulldozing of the 1936 Art Deco Regal cinema in King’s Street, and fears that more that 20 others of Britain’s 1930’s cinemas could face a similar fate, David Trevor-Jones, chairman of the Cinema Theatre Association, has said:

‘We’re losing swathes and it’s a tragedy. We live in a world of corporations and cheap architecture, but these buildings take you to another place. They’re all about grandeur and supreme fantasy… I think cinemas are still undervalued; no town would willingly lose its Victorian theatre, but the same isn’t the case for iconic cinema buildings… They’re part of our social and cultural history, but they have no protection.’ More in the Independent on Sunday HERE.

 

Television

David Lister writes about this week’s recording of the South Bank Show Awards (which we covered at the time HERE) at which consensus set around accusing ITV of philistinism for axing The South Bank Show. ‘But if ITV now seems a lost cause on serious arts programming, I can’t say I always get a warm glow from the approach of the BBC or Channel 4’ voices The Independent HERE.

‘Godless liberals’ are beside themselves with horror as a result of an opinion poll suggesting Fox News is the most trusted news operation in America; 49% of Americans trust Fox. Great analysis of the success of ‘news-o-tainment’ in the Guardian HERE.

Rock films look set to take on TV talent shows, and what Peter Hook is calling their ‘singing prostitutes’. Ten films chronicling the lives of musicians have been released or gone into production in recent months, to include the stories of John Lennon, Ian Dury and Joe Meek so far. This week sees the release of Oil City Confidential, an account of Canvey Island pub-rockers, Dr Feelgood. The film’s director, Julien Temple, says ‘We want film to provoke questions… Why can’t we come up with this kind of passion anymore? Now it’s the blandest of the bland who reach whole new audiences on shows like the X-factor’. More in The Observer HERE.

Adam Crozier could get £15m if he successfully turns around the fortunes of ITV. He will get a basic salary just below the £800,000 of his predecessor, but his annual bonus has the potential to reach more than double that. The biggest incentive though takes the form of a parcel of shares he will be awarded on arrival, but will only be allowed to collect after two years at the helm, making 2014 and 2015 the key years in the plan. More in The Observer HERE and The Sunday Times HERE. Assessment of Crozier’s chances of success can be found in the Observer HERE and Sunday Times HERE; The option of an ITV pay-per-view in The Sunday Telegraph HERE; And The Observer cites the latest threat of an ITV break-up bid, posed by rebel shareholders HERE.

TalkTalk is to launch television and mobile services, informed not least by the rapid maturation trend in the fixed-line broadband market and the fact that TalkTalk’s rivals in the broadband market already have TV services; BT, Virgin Media and BSkyB all sell broadband and phone services in discounted bundles. TalkTalk is involved in Project Canvass, a BBC-led consortium preparing to launch an internet-connected TV set-top box before the end of the year. More in the FT Weekend HERE.

Film

Highlights include Pulp Fiction; The English Patient; Good Will Hunting; and The Queen – could it really now be the end for Miramax? The studio is credited with bringing arthouse to huge audiences, but now reports have it that it is to scrapped by Disney. Disney claims it is not closing the business entirely; it is still in possession of six unreleased films, including The Tempest, with Helen Mirren as Prospero. Co-founder Harvey Weinstein has responded by saying he and his brother would ‘love the opportunity’ to buy back the name – an amalgam of their parents, Miriam and Max. More HERE.

The first black Disney heroine is greeted as ‘an opportunity missed’ by The Observer HERE.

Digital media

We covered immediate reaction to the hyper-hyped launch of the iPad HERE. Come Saturday calm, and the latest tablet is in receipt of a positive, if somewhat muted, review in the FT Weekend, which concludes that it will find some degree of success, and help define the emerging media tablet market HERE. Elsewhere in the FT ‘charismatic returnee’ Steve Jobs is observed, to the deduction ‘if his record is anything to go by, consumers could yet find it hard to live without their iPads’ HERE. The potential trickle-down effect for apps companies is covered in The Sunday Times HERE.

With the iPad still two months away though, there remain many unanswered questions. For example, in relation to digital rights management (DRM), it is unclear whether Apple intends to add software which could render consumers unable to transfer content across devices; critics of DRM argue such restrictions prevent consumers ever really owning their books HERE. Yet might it be the case that as Apple usurp not only other major companies, but also consumer choice, their legions of fans will grow only more loyal still? Yes, says The Telegraph, which supposes Apple is taking over the world HERE, The Observer agrees, but fears this will be the realisation of an Orwellian nightmare HERE.

But can the iPad rescue newspapers from ‘oblivion’, in the words of the Guardian Editor in Chief? Absolutely not, responds The Observer HERE, citing the fact that, against industry losses of about $10bn last year, the newspaper US subscription and advertising revenue across all existing e-readers and ‘at a mighty optimistic stretch’, reached new circulation funds of only $325m a year, plus $150m in ads. The Observer is however much more optimistic about the potential of ‘a paywall nobody will notice’; which comes bundled with pay-tv packages HERE.

Media freedom

Standing against the ‘creeping’ culture of secrecy in Britain’s courts, Mr Justice Tugendhat revoked a privacy injunction obtained by John Terry, the England football captain, ruling that there were no grounds for a gagging order preventing the disclosure of an extramarital affair with a former team-mate’s girlfriend. The ‘super-injunction’ had been granted last week after Terry’s legal team used Human Rights Act legislation to argue the public had no right to know about his private life. The injunction has been criticised as the latest example of courts bringing in a backdoor privacy law at the expense of freedom of expression in the media. This weekend Lord Woolf, the former lord chief justice, said he hoped Terry’s case would discourage celebrities from making spurious attempts to gag the press. More in the Guardian HERE; Sunday Times HERE and HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

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News Summary: 27th January 2010

January 27th, 2010 - 
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‘Oblivion is no place for the arts’ Prince Charles told the last ever South Bank Show Awards, via a video message criticising ITV’s decision to cancel the South Bank Show. He said the show was ‘one of the most important beacons of the arts in this country’ and that ‘Civilisation needs all the help it can get, more so today than ever before. But now it loses one of its greatest champions.’

Lord Bragg, presenter of the show since its launch in 1978, said ‘I’m baffled as to how and why it was taken off the air. I don’t think it was a financial consideration.’ He added that arts on mainstream television has dropped by around 60%. Embarrassingly for ITV, the ceremony will be broadcast on January 31, complete with criticism from the Prince of Wales and others. Lord Bragg said: ‘I am the editor… it won’t be censored.’ More in the Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

A Chinese court has cleared Baidu, China’s most popular search engine, of music piracy. Another site called Sohu was also cleared. The music sector trade body, IFPA, responded: ‘The judgments in the Baidu and Sohu/Sogou cases are extremely disappointing… [and] do not reflect the reality that both operators have built their music search businesses on the basis of facilitating mass copyright infringement, to the detriment of artists, producers and all those involved in China’s legitimate music market.’ Background on the case, which was launched by Universal Music, Sony BMG Music Entertainment Hong Kong and Warner Music Hong Kong in early 2008, can be found HERE. More on today’s story HERE.

There’s an interesting article in the GuardianTech HERE on digital copyright, and what that should aim to achieve; to promote participation with culture without displacing any revenue for the rights holder.

Whilst the Government seems to be pushing ahead with the 2015 completion rate for digital radio switchover in the Digital Economy Bill, Ford Ennals, the CEO of Digital Radio UK –  the body charged with overseeing the switchover – has now predicted that the completion of the process is in fact – at the earliest – 6 to 10 years away. He adds that he wants to ‘be responsible and transparent with consumers’. More HERE. Also talking about Digital Britain yesterday was Kip Meek (formerly of Ofcom; made independent broker to the DB interim report last year). He told the Westminster Media eForum that digital decisions had been left too late, and that the issue of spectrum – both trading existing spectrum and auctioning off the spectrum on the airwaves released by the digital switchover process – had become a ‘policy-making orphan’. More HERE.

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News Summary: 25th January 2010

January 25th, 2010 - 
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Lords Committee on Communications publishes a report today calling for the part-privatisation of BBC Worldwide, turning its commercial arm into a global distributor of British content. The report adds that the British film industry also suffers from the absence of a successful worldwide company that can promote its work and also covers children’s television, recommending existing tax breaks for films should be improved for low-budget productions and extended to cover children’s programming, in response to estimates that spending on the latter has fallen by 48% since 2003. More in the Guardian HERE; Indy HERE; and Telegraph HERE.

The Audit Commission has ruled in favour of council-run freesheets in the face of local newspaper groups’ complaints that they are providing unfair competition for readers and advertisers at a time when the local media is under unprecedented financial strain. David Newell, director of the Newspaper Society has responded ‘The Audit Commission was only able to look at part of the picture regarding council publications… The question of damaging impact on local media should now be referred to the Office of Fair Trading… as a matter of urgency’. More in the Guardian HERE and HERE.

As the Google.cn row rumbles on, a Chinese spokesman claims ‘Any accusation that the Chinese government participated in cyber attacks… is groundless and aims to denigrate China.’ In separate comments a spokesman maintained that China  will ban uses of the internet ‘to subvert state power and wreck national unity’.

The debate has been joined by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer who criticised Google for its threats to leave China, saying Microsoft would continue to comply with China’s censorship requests, just as it follows the laws of every country where it does business. He also stated that the US is ‘extreme when it comes to free speech’. More HERE.

An interesting line also entering the debate surrounds the fact that the US Government inadvertently aided hackers; in order to comply with government search warrants on user data, Google created a backdoor access system into Gmail accounts. This feature is what Chinese hackers in turn exploited to gain access. It is now being argued that democratic governments around the world, including the UK, in passing laws to give police new powers of Internet surveillance, are making communications system providers more vulnerable to criminal appropriation. More HERE.

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Jeremy at the Oxford Media Convention

January 22nd, 2010 - 
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No public subsidy for outdated regional news.

Jeremy has warned media consortiums bidding for public money to supply regional television that a Conservative Government would not continue with the scheme.

‘This is because we want to see the emergence of a radically different, improved and forward-looking local media sector. Not just local TV – where we are about the only major developed country not to have proper city-based TV franchises – but profitable, hungry and ambitious local radio, local newspapers and local websites as well.’

You can read Jeremy’s full speech HERE and media coverage of it in the Guardian HERE and Telegraph HERE.

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Weekly email: 14/01/10

January 18th, 2010 - 
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Here is this week’s news:
Tory Stuff
Jeremy made a major speech on the arts at the RSA’s conference on arts policy, the largest conference of its kind held in recent years. He was doing his impressive speaking-without-notes trick so no transcript to link to, but he talked about our plans to: restore lottery funds to the four original good causes, bear down on quango administration costs; philanthropy including simplifying Gift Aid and lifetime giving, and incentives to build up endowments and a better culture of asking for contributions. There’s good overview from Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian, HERE, although unfortunately there is a typo in the headline, which should say ‘Arts bureaucracy cuts proposed by Conservatives.’ Feedback on what he said and other goings on from the conference on Twitter, HERE.
Creative Industries
Digital Economy Bill
Realising that there is no way it will pass in its current form, the Government has climbed down on Clause 17 (which allows the Government to extend copyright with minimal consultation) more HERE and latest discussion from the Lords HERE. The debate rages on with Bono’s 10 ideas to make the next 10 years more interesting, including criticism of internet piracy HERE causes a storm of debate HERE and HERE
Video Games
Ed spoke at an event on video games at the RSA last night with Tom Chatfield, a critic and commentator on video games, with an excellent book out this week, Fun Inc. Why Video Games Are the First Serious Business of the 21st Century, more HERE and HERE.
Channel 4
Congratulations to C4, which has been awarded the broadcast rights for the 2012 Paralympics. It will broadcast 150 hours of coverage after winning what LOCOG described as a ‘highly competitive tender process’.  C4 tell us they feel this is a great fit with their remit commitment to cultural diversity and that ‘we’ll be throwing everything at our coverage to make it as innovative and exciting as it can be and attract the largest possible audiences.’ More HERE
Local Media
Ed spoke in yet another debate on the Local Media in Parliament this week HERE. Eight consortia have been successful in the first phase of the selection process for Independently Funded News Consortia (IFNC) pilots HERE. We oppose IFNCs as a backward step, and instead have put forward proposals for local television HERE
Broadcasting
Independent think tank Policy Exchange has published a report on the future of broadcasting HERE. The report argues that public service broadcasting needs to be radically overhauled if it is to survive in the new digital age. It calls for the BBC to place quality before ratings, and stop spending huge resources on sports rights, programmes for 16 to 35 year olds and popular entertainment, which other channels would deliver anyway. Instead of crowding out commercial schemes, the BBC management should spend up to 5% of total licence fee income on co-funding PSB programmes on other channels.
Music
Contribute to this discussion on our LinkedIn group: It’s a traditional New Year ritual for trade associations to portray their industries in the best possible light, but how is the entertainment business really doing? HERE Incidentally, any one can start a discussion on our Linked In group, so feel free.
Arts and Heritage
Arts Council
What did the Arts Council ever do to Tom Watson MP, we wonder, as he tables yet more parliamentary questions about them following the 50  -  yes 50  -  he tabled last week, and the 50-plus before Christmas, the latest from yesterday HERE the day before HERE 6th January HERE 5th January HERE
Could it be the answer to an earlier question, as reported HERE that has really got him going? 
The Arts Council has given an extra £1.2 million to the ICA, more HERE
Cultural Olympiad
DCMS advisor on Culture and former director of the Manchester International Festival Ruth Mackenzie has been appointed as the director of the Cultural Olympiad. At the same time several artistic associates have also been announced: Alex Poots, current artistic director of MIF, Martin Duncan who was joint artistic director with Mackenzie at Chichester Festival, Sir Brian McMaster, former director of the Edinburgh  International  Festival and Craig Hassall, managing director of English National Ballet  and former head of the Cultural Olympiad for the Australian Olympics more HERE.  And they all report to Tony Hall.  Sounds like a recipe for clear decision-making, then.
Philanthropy
Arts and Business report that the total figure for private sector investment in culture for 2008/09 fell from its record high in 07/08 to £654.9 million in the UK decreasing by 7% (above inflation). Investment from all three private sector sources declined from the previous year: Business investment fell by 6% to £157 million and accounts for 24% of the overall contribution from the private sector. In 08/09, investment from individuals dropped to £363 million, a 7% decrease that ends the trend of fast-paced growth that began to accelerate in 05/06. Individual giving now accounts for 55% of the total private investment received in the sector. The amount of support from Trusts & Foundations also fell from £141 million to £135 million a 7% decrease now accounting for 21% of the total private investment in the cultural sector. More HERE. Ed commented ‘These figures are disappointing and reflect the effects of the economic recession.  This is a wake-up call that we need to get our economy back on track, in order to return to the levels of private giving we enjoyed in the 1990s and 2000s.  Economic recovery is as crucial for the arts as it is for all parts of our economy’.
Heritage
The Public Accounts Committee report into Promoting Participation with the Historic Environment was published this week. Committee chair Edward Leigh MP said:
“The Department for Culture, Media and Sport gave English Heritage unrealistic targets to increase the number of visits to historic sites by people from three specific underrepresented groups. With no clear evidence of how the target levels might be achieved, English Heritage opted instead to focus on increasing its income from visitor attractions, at the expense of activities to increase participation’Full report HERE. We think this is yet another example of how Labour’s box-ticking is a misconceived approach to heritage and the arts.
The Art Fund has launched its campaign to raise £3.3 million to save the Staffordshire Hoard HERE. We wish them every success and of course will make a donation.
Libraries
Rather than staying at home and building snowmen this winter, Bloomsbury have conceived Bloomsbury Library Online to support public libraries and literacy in an innovative, experimental and socially inclusive way using existing computers and devices within the local library, internet-enabled mobile phones, or remotely from home or elsewhere with a library card. Currently offering seventy books, from forty-eight authors to 2.4 million readers through UK public libraries, we think this is great news, more HERE
West Sussex County Council also has plans to deliver 21st century library services more HERE.
Predictions for the new decade include: ‘a very strong independent sector, the growth of the e-book market and a continued fight for library campaigners are some of the predictions for next year made by figures from the retail, library and digital sides of the trade.’ according to The Bookseller, more HERE.
Archives
The National Archives Education Department has set up a Twitter feed that lets people get a unique perspective on the opening months of the Second World War. Starting from 1 January, summaries and links to Cabinet papers relating to that date in 1940 are posted – the result is a day by day view of the Second World War from the War Cabinet’s point of view, using real documents You can follow the tweets and follow the links to read the original documents capturing the decisions of the men who determined the fate of the nationHERE. For non-tweeters, you can find Cabinet Papers 1915-1978 online HERE.
Natalie Ceeney is stepping down from her post as CEO at The National Archives. Oliver Morley will be Interim CEO, the Ministry of Justice will be handling the new appointment, more HERE. We wish Natalie well for the future, she has been an outstanding leader.
Museums
The findings of an NMDC project looking at how national and regional museums work together was launched this week, more HERE.The NMDC has also published Museums’ Deliver demonstrating the wide-ranging social and economic importance of museums in the UK. Full report HERE.
Kids in Museums have launched their manifesto today, highlighting the need for flexible family tickets HERE.
In America, is it time to start selling some works to balance the books in museums and galleries? More HERE and the piece caused such a storm there is a response HERE.
City of Culture
Birmingham will bid to be the UK’s first city of culture more HERE.
NCA
The National Campaign for the Arts have a lovely new website HERE.
Opera and Ballet
The Royal Opera House is the first big arts institution to join the tickets for troops scheme, more HERE. Dance, as someone in a cheese shop once said, is ‘staggeringly popular in the manor squire’ more HERE.
New Year’s Honours - Errors and Omissions
Thank you for pointing out the following omissions from our New Year’s Honours List – a knighthood for the brilliant architect David Chipperfield, CBEs for the outstanding Natalie Ceeney, soon to be ex head of the National Archives, the great  singer Sarah Connolly, the awesome architect George Ferguson, and an OBE for the superb Julia Fawcett at the Lowry. Also the Director of Heart n Soul is Mark Williams (not Christopher Williams, a songwriter who works with them who received an OBE). Slapped wrists all round
In Parliament
Parliamentary Questions
More questions from Tom Watson on the Arts Council HERE
DCMS spending on travel costs for Ministers and Officials HERE
EDMs
EDM 583 – Technology Company Censorship HERE
Digital Economy Bill
The Bill is in the committee stage in the Lords – Hansard can be read HERE
Where we’ve been and who we’ve seen
PayPoint, the London Film Museum, VAGA, NMDC, Orange, Anthony Browne, RSA, V&A, Kids in Museums, NCA, Ideas Tap, The State of the Arts Conference, the Olympic site, BBC News Festival, OC&C Media Conference.
Ed Vaizey
Shadow Arts Minister
Jeremy Hunt
Shadow Culture Secretary
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News Summary: January 18th 2009

January 18th, 2010 - 
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Ofcom’s pay-TV review – the final statement from which is due to be published in March – has set rolling predictions that the ‘cost of TV sport set to tumble’. More in the Guardian HERE; Independent HERE and Telegraph HERE.

Google is making the headlines again, this week in response to an action lodged by German news publishers regarding copyright. Germany’s justice minister has also joined the debate, complaining that the firm is becoming ‘a giant monopoly, similar to Microsoft’. More HERE.

Last week’s big all-change of radio talent - Chris Evans, the new Terry; Simon Mayo the new Chris; Richard Bacon the new Simon… – is under review HERE, whilst television’s Simon vs. Simon is analysed HERE.

The National Youth Jazz Orchestra is facing bankruptcy. Its plight has emerged after the cancellation of this year’s Festival of British Youth Orchestras because of a shortfall of £50,000. The orchestra’s chairman estimates that he needs to raise £105,000 by April to secure the band’s survival:

‘If we fail to raise the money we need, one of two things would happen. Either the NYJO would have to fold more or less instantly, or it might limp along for a bit but still eventually fold. If we don’t raise it, it’s a tragedy: a national cultural jewel down the tubes.’ More HERE.

And finally… ‘You ever heard of this amazing Stravinsky bloke?’

The Roundhouse – famous Camden-cool nurturer of young music and performance talent – looks set to make in-roads in the struggle to get kids into classical. A new series called ‘Reverb at Roundhouse’ features everything from Beethoven to cutting-edge new works, bringing classical music into a venue that has a devoted following among young fans of only the coolest rock and pop gigs. Roundhouse’s Creative Director reports the kids have been ‘absolutely blown away’, asking ‘You ever heard of this amazing Stravinsky bloke?’ More in the Independent HERE and FT HERE.

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News Summary: January 14th 2010

January 14th, 2010 - 
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Google’s announcement yesterday that it would no longer censor its Chinese service was sparked by a cyber attack it believes to be aimed at political surveillance of Chinese human rights activists. China responded this morning by claiming to be resolutely opposed to hacking and itself a victim of cyber-attacks. In the statement posted on the state council information office website, cabinet spokesman Wang Chen also stubbornly reminded companies of their need to abide by internet controls, citing their ‘social responsibilities’ to ‘guide’ opinion. The remarks did not mention Google directly. More in the Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Times HERE; Telegraph HERE and FT HERE.

In a report on public service broadcasting, published by Policy Exchange today, there are calls to abolish the BBC Trust and to privatise Channel 4. The report says the BBC has an ‘obsession’ with chasing ratings, and spends a ‘disproportionately high amount’ on pursuing the favour of the 16-35 age group. Money spent on imported US television shows and sports rights at the expense of investment in quality home-grown content also came under criticism. As for Channel 4, this should be privately owned and given an enhanced public service role, its PSB commitment to be monitored by the new Public Service Content (PSC) Trust, which would also monitor the BBC. ITV and Five should be allowed to opt out of PSB commitments completely by 2012 says the report. More in the Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Telegraph HERE; and FT HERE.

Analysis of the relative performance in the ratings war of the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Five in 2009 can be found HERE.

Ruth Mackenzie, currently an adviser on cultural policy to the DCMS, is to become Director of the Cultural Olympiad. More HERE.

The late Harold Pinter is back under the spotlight as Antonia Fraser’s memoir of her life with him focuses on their marriage, but is thought to paints a revealing portrait of the dramatist too. More HERE.

Alain de Botton writes about ‘the enlightening bridge between art and work’, calling for ‘an art that can proclaim the intelligence, peculiarity, beauty and horror of the modern workplace and, not least, its extraordinary claim to be able to provide us… with the principal source of life’s meaning.’ More HERE

And finally… ‘Yes we can!’ - The Musical! A musical about Barack Obama’s presidential campaign is to premier in Berlin this weekend, to include love songs by the president to his wife Michelle and duets with Hillary Clinton. More HERE

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News Summary: January 13th 2010

January 13th, 2010 - 
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Google has announced it is no longer willing to censor search results on its Chinese service. The decision marks Google’s readiness to risk being thrown out of the world’s most populous internet market; after all, in order to launch Google.cn in the first place,  the company had to agree to censor ‘sensitive’ material – such as details of human rights groups and references to Tiananmen Square.

There have been significant increases in Chinese censorship over the course of the last year, and Google’s response seems to be in united front with the US Government. A State department spokesman has confirmed that ‘Google was in contact with us prior to the announcement’; an announcement which is to be followed next week by the launching of a new US technology policy to help citizens in other countries gain access to an uncensored internet. More in the Guardian HERE; Independent HERE; Times HERE; Telegraph HERE and FT HERE.

John Riley, of Sky News, has hit back against Lord Manelson’s claims that the Sun newspaper has thrown its weight behind the Conservative Party  because of a tacit agreement to legislate to protect Sky in the pay-TV sector. Lord Mandelson began this course in response to James Murdoch’s speech last year on the future of tv.

Riley said last night ‘Lord Mandelson is smart enough and experienced enough to know that there is no such link [between editorial decisions at the Sun, and Sky], but you can see why it might suit him to create a different impression…’ He attacked Mandelson for ‘question[ing] Sky’s impartiality … by trying to whip up concern about the fact that BSkyB’s largest shareholder, News Corporation, also owns some of the UK’s most widely read newspapers… At Sky News, we provide impartial and independent news… not because Ofcom tells us to but because it’s what our audience expects of us. In simple terms, it’s good business for us to be impartial.’ More HERE.

Concerns about theatre funding and the fact that the theatre economy is saddled with too much debt and over-reliant on increasingly unreliable revenue streams is blogged about HERE. And discussion of the cycling of stage actors and the lure of new generations of talent to the British stage can be found in the New York Times HERE.

And finally… Hail 2010: The Year of the Legwarmer, in response to reports that five million Brits are now attending dance clubs and classes every week.  Even the Department of Health has cottoned on and this month launches its Let’s Dance campaign, part of the Change4Life initiative to tackle obesity. Caroline Miller, of Dance UK, says the seeds for dance’s newfound popularity were sown in the mid-1990s, after their injection of National Lottery funding. More HERE

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