Mayor Brandon Johnson, who took office last May, dismissed Commissioner Erin Harkey in February, and nobody knows why (other than wanting to replace his predecessor's appointee with his own). Johnson has named no replacement, and with Chicago's festival season coming on, there's some concern. - WBEZ (Chicago)
Censorship is on the rise globally, say artists and art professionals: two groups that carry the unofficial but historic burden of speaking truth to power and offering political critique on behalf of wider society. - The Art Newspaper
"How is what's happening in the Middle East - and the tensions being driven here by war and violence there — impacting the UK's arts and entertainment sphere? What role does culture have to heal political divides — or foment them? They're questions I wanted to explore with figures working in that world." - BBC
We spend hundreds of thousands of dollars a year on writers, then on editing and fact-checking their findings. Perplexity gets it all for free. When newsrooms die, what will be left to search? What will answer engines do when the people who spent time and money figuring out all those answers are gone? - The Walrus
"I’m feeling very energized by California. There is clearly a rich universe of creative forces at work — not to mention good food and a varied physical landscape, including ocean and mountains." - The New York Times
The information furnishes "a useful lesson in how U.S. media companies fare when they cannot fall back on the ironclad legal protections they enjoy in the United States, along with a window into an embarrassing fact-checking breakdown at a top American media outlet." - Washington Post
"The contest ... can disqualify contestants deemed to have breached its rules on political neutrality,” and the song “October Rain” currently contains lyrics that seem to be about Hamas’s attacks on Israelis on October 7, 2023. - The Guardian (UK)
The thing is, "Federal law includes computer-generated images of identifiable people in the prohibition on child pornography. Although the prohibition seems clear, legal experts caution that it has yet to be tested in court.” Also, does an AI-generated nude depict a real person or not? - Los Angeles Times
To add insult to injury (one that the National Labor Relations Board may not look kindly upon), the workers learned they had been laid off while they were testifying to the Austin (Texas) City Council about why they deserved better pay. - The Verge
Reality has intruded into the universe of Law & Order. "The series has always been copaganda, built on a foundational love for the police, and yet it can’t help but give the public ammunition against itself. What we are left with is an identity crisis." - Slate
A group of Muslim Somali parents asked their school district not to share any books with LGBTQIA content with their kids, and the school district agreed. Now, the school board is asking the state for clarity, especially on “protected classes." - Sahan Journal
Contrary to popular belief, copyright does not exist for the benefit of creators. Its purpose, according to founding documents and recent interpretations, is to foster a culture that produces great works of science, art, literature, and music. - The Atlantic
The latest battle (last time we checked, at least) was last week, when the image generator of Google's Gemini bot was found to default to women and people of color even when asked to create images of Vikings and popes. Conservative critics accused the bot of being woke, of course. - Wired
If it’s tough for venues, it’s even tougher for artists, who in the past have found it hard but possible to sustain some kind of hand-to-mouth living from project funding. - The Stage
Cherelle Parker: "Every time you hear us referencing the importance of making our city the safest, the cleanest, the greenest big city in the nation, with economic opportunity for all, you have to know that arts and culture play an essential role in helping to make that happen." - The Philadelphia Inquirer (MSN)
