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Axel Springer, the German publisher of Politico and Bild, told staff at London’s Telegraph on Friday that the paper will become “a global, AI-powered premium media and intelligence business.” Insiders expect up to 100 jobs to go, with the culture and sports desks hit hardest, and the new revenue list (video, audio, puzzles, events, licensing, commerce) names no arts coverage (The Guardian). It leads because a culture desk is being cut in the same announcement that promises AI.
Ann Powers argues that “Is it real?” has become music’s central question, from AI tracks flooding streaming services to country star Stella Lefty’s “Boston” borrowing the chorus of Noah Kahan’s “Stick Season.” Her historical point is that earlier fakery panics, from Ry Cooder’s digital 1979 album to Paula Abdul’s vocals, were ways of saying “stay out.” (NPR).
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust has $45.5 million in cash and a projected $79 million budget, and owns most of Downtown’s theatres. It says it is “not a funder”. Meanwhile Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO have merged and the opera and ballet are cutting Downtown dates (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). It matters beyond Pittsburgh because it shows what a regional market gets when its biggest institution exists to bring people Downtown.
Michelle Terry leaves Shakespeare’s Globe at the end of 2027 after a decade of holding the £5 ticket, and calls theatre “the most necessary of AI-proof art forms” (What’s On Stage).
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