ArtsJournal: Arts, Culture, Ideas

MEDIA

BBC Says It Will Cut Costs, Hire More “Economically Diverse” Staff

In its annual plan, it also set out a target of 25 percent of staff being “from lower socio-economic backgrounds” by 2027 to “ensure our workforce is more representative of the audiences we serve.” - The Hollywood Reporter

No Zelensky At The Oscars Because The Academy Didn’t Want To “Overly Politicize The Show”? Oh, Please.

"The fact is the Oscars are always political — just like Hollywood," writes J. Hoberman.  Just ask Marlon Brando and Sacheen Littlefeather.  Or Michael Moore.  Or Oscar winner Al Gore. Or Ronald Reagan, who taped a message, just before he got shot, for the 1981 Oscars. - The Nation

Why American TV Went Silent During The Oscars Slap

Does it make sense to continue to threaten the major networks and their shrinking share of viewers with huge fines for the utterance of words that are legally permissible everywhere else in the universe of television?  - Slate

A Generation Gap Among Podcasters

Survey results show a divide between those who've been producing podcasts for more than five years and less than that — on censorship, false or dangerous content, the role of Apple, technical details, and even what makes a podcast a podcast. - Inside Radio

How A Couple Of Philadelphia Stations Invented The Local TV Newscast (And Messed Up American Race Relations)

In 1965, KYW-TV debuted Eyewitness News, followed in 1970 by WPVI's Action News, creating many of the local newscast conventions still in place today. Soon those formats were copied all over the country. Yet the "if it bleeds, it leads" mentality made some longstanding American problems worse. - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Social Media’s Impact On Teens

Many researchers say things like Instagram and TikTok probably aren’t entirely bad for all adolescents. They’re not entirely good, either, and can cause documented problems with body image, but the impact varies. - The Verge

Nielsen, The Media Ratings Giant, Is Sold To Hedge Fund Group

"In a deal valued at $16 billion, Nielsen has agreed to sell itself to a consortium of private equity firms led by Evergreen Coast Capital Corp. and Brookfield Business Partners. The $28-per share offer includes the assumption of the measurement giant's debt." - Inside Radio

The Motion Picture Academy Says It’s Trying To Be More Diverse. How’s It Doing?

Even after that change, and after another year of invitees in 2021 that continued the trend, the Academy still stands at 81 percent white and 67 percent male. And, as a THR analysis of the 17 voting branches shows, the gains have been uneven, among the crafts in particular. - The Hollywood Reporter

Even With The Will Smith-Chris Rock Bitch-Slap, There Are Two Americas

Jemele Hill: "By that I mean: Black people and white people aren't necessarily talking about the incident in the same way. … I can't help but notice the disproportionate outrage that many people in white America — and many in the Hollywood elite — are showing." - The Atlantic

RT America, The Russian State Broadcaster’s DC Bureau, Was Just Weird

"But its weirdness is much harder to explain if you can't look at any of its deeply weird clips," most of which have vanished from the Web. "From the start, the channel was staffed by has-beens, oddballs, and extremely young people." - The Atlantic

Second-Lowest Oscar Ratings Ever

The early results showed a 56 percent improvement on the 9.6 million people who watched last year’s event, according to ABC, though Sunday night’s show was still the second least-watched Oscars ever. - The New York Times

The Oscars’ Audience Problem

The Oscars face a litany of problems, some of which are out of the organization’s control and others that are self-inflicted. Those include the unpopularity of the nominees, the fragmentation of the TV audience and the controversial pared broadcast presence of eight awards, meant to preserve ratings. - Los Angeles Times

Let The Streamer Floodgates Open

And yet: "After years of Netflix and Amazon trying to produce and acquire their way to the top—despite the Hollywood old-schoolers who looked down their noses at it—Apple swooped in thanks to a movie it just picked up at Sundance." - Wired

That Familiar Video Game Jump Sound Dates To The 1970s

Truly, the first video games were silent. Can you imagine? But: "The hup, as it’s sometimes known, is the onomatopoetic vocalization of effort given by the player-character when initiating a jump." - Wired

Samuel L. Jackson’s Honorary Oscar Award Speech Was Pretty Great

The 73-year-old actor was nominated, but didn't win, for his role in Pulp Fiction. "In an emotional acceptance speech, Jackson looked back on his career, noting his early, nameless roles, including what he described as 'Gang Member No. 2' and 'Black Guy.'" - Washington Post

Our Free Newsletter

Join our 30,000 subscribers

Latest

Don't Miss

function my_excerpt_length($length){ return 200; } add_filter('excerpt_length', 'my_excerpt_length');