Fox News CEO warns against debate boycotts
WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, speaking in Washington, warned presidential candidates about pulling out of debates based on a sponsoring media company.
Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards dropped out of an August debate planned by the Nevada Democratic Party, in part because it was being hosted by Fox News channel.
Ailes used a speech during a Radio & Television News Directors Association Foundation event in Washington to deliver a caution to the candidates, TV Week said.
"The public knows if a journalist's question is unfair. They also know if a candidate is impeding freedom of speech and free press," Ailes said. "If you are afraid of journalists, how will you face the real dangers in the world?"
A candidate -- he never mentioned Edwards by name -- that boycotts a debate because of its media sponsorship, Ailes said, "is making a terrible mistake about journalism" and also runs the risk of alienating voters.
Panel: Campuses must do more to end piracy
WASHINGTON, March 9 (UPI) -- University administrators need to be more actively involved in battling piracy on campuses, members of a U.S. House of Representatives panel said.
Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., chairman of the Intellectual Property Subcommittee, told a panel of university administrators, music industry executives and others that the time for talk has passed, The Hollywood Reporter said.
"I'm concerned that current law isn't giving universities enough incentive to stop piracy," Berman said, adding that tax incentives and other governmental perks universities now receive may need a closer look.
John Vaughn of the Association of American Universities argued that piracy is a "ubiquitous" problem "not unique to higher education.
An industry trade group official cited one report that students accounted for 1.3 billion illegal music downloads in 2006, The Washington Post reported.
"Music has never been more popular with fans than it is right now," but fewer people -- particularly college students -- are paying for it, said Cary Sherman, president of the Recording Industry Association of America, said.
The RIAA this year sent hundreds of complaints to students, pressured administrators to take tougher anti-piracy measures and tried shaming colleges by publishing a list of top offending schools.
Study: Cities should mix arts, economics
PHILADELPHIA, March 9 (UPI) -- Both arts and U.S. municipalities would benefit from agencies that coordinate and weave cultural activities into a city's planning, a study said.
While focusing on one city -- Philadelphia -- the RAND Corp. report issued Friday has broader implications by recommending civic leaders make cultural institutions a meaningful component of a community's strategies for economic development and neighborhood revitalization.
In its study, RAND researchers examined support systems for the arts in 11 metro areas to identify strategies to sustain Philadelphia's arts sector specifically, the research agency said in a news release.
The researchers found even though the national non-profit arts sector blossomed during the last decade, economic challenges and skepticism about greater government involvement called for new strategies.
Co-authors Liz Ondaatje and Kevin McCarthy said a city must develop a vision of where its art sector is heading and build consensus among government, business and residents about making the arts central to an area's growth and vitality.
"It is crucial that cities like Philadelphia realize how much the arts can contribute to other city goals, such as economic competitiveness, tourism, and quality of life," Ondaatje said.
Eminem asked to testify about canceled gig
DUBLIN, Ireland, March 9 (UPI) -- An Irish court asked rapper Eminem to testify about why he pulled out of a concert in a lawsuit the promoter filed to recover cancellation costs.
Justice Peter Kelly, who is overseeing the case, wrote to the U.S. District Court of Eastern Michigan in Detroit, asking that Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Mathers III, tell his side to a judge in his hometown, E! News said. His testimony would be read into the court record in Dublin.
Eminem was to headline the Sept. 17, 2005, Slane Castle concert but backed out weeks before the show, citing exhaustion. He later underwent treatment for an addiction to sleeping pills.
Show organizer MCD was forced to refund more than 80,000 tickets. The concert date was never made up. MCD's three London-based insurers failed to cover the promoter's costs.
MCD sued the insurers for breach of contract, seeking up $2 million to recover the costs of the cancellation.
Eminem's attorney said his client wanted the testimony kept private because the rapper would be questioned about his medical history. Kelly said he would keep the comments non-public until they were entered into the public record at the Dublin proceeding.
