Arts / Culture

Heritage for Sale

by Sheldon Rampton — September 16, 2001 - 6:24pm

Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lawrence Small has embraced commercialism and shifted the Smithsonian's mission from "the increase and diffusion of knowledge" to acting as an auxilliary megaphone for corporate marketing and public relations efforts. "Mr. Small, a mortgage banker by profession, is much better suited to the promotion of SUVs or hamburgers than to the management of our nation's most important cultural institution. Mr.

Main Source: 
http://www.commercialalert.org/smithsonian/index.html

Sony's Phony Movie Critic Causes a Sensation

by Laura Miller — June 2, 2001 - 12:00am

Newsweek exposed phony movie critic David Manning, who was created by an unidentified Sony employee to pen positive reviews of Sony movies. Paul Holmes, editor of PR trade newsletter "The Holmes Report," writes, "The most peculiar thing is that someone would go to such lengths to create fictional reviews for movies when everyone in Hollywood knows that getting legitimate--or at least flesh and blood--critics to say nice things about even the most egregoius movie is rarely a struggle."

Main Source: 
Holmes Report, June 11, 2001; Newsweek, June 2, 2001
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