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NEA (last updated November 2, 2001) The National Endowment for the Arts, created in 1965 to fund artists through public grants, has become one of the most visible symbols of American civilization, liberal elitism, or government waste, depending on one's viewpoint. Since the late 1980s, the NEA has survived efforts to dismantle the organization and new restrictions on its actions, but it has also seen its funding in real dollars by half in just five years. The NEA has given out more than $3 billion via more than 100,000 awards in its history, and has been attacked for only a small handful of awards. One early attack, for example, came in the 1970s for a grant it made to Erica Jong when she was writing the book Fear of Flying, a novel about women's sexuality. Nevertheless, the NEA's most visible and most lasting crisis came in 1989, when NEA-funded works such as Andres Serrano's Piss Christ (a photograph of a crucifix immersed in urine) and an exhibit of homoerotic photographs by Robert Mapplethorpe, The Perfect Moment, sparked widespread controversy. In 1990, performance artists such as Karen Finley also came under attack. Reacting to this overall controversy, Congress eliminated $45,000 from the NEA's budget, the precise amount contributed via the NEA to the Serrano and Mapplethorpe exhibits. Via Public Law 101-121, Congress also enacted an amendment mandating that no NEA funds "be used to promote, disseminate, or produce materials which in the judgment of [the NEA] may be considered obscene, including but not limited to, depictions of sadomasochism, homoeroticism, the sexual exploitation of children, or individuals engaged in sex acts and which, when taken as a whole, do not have serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value." The NEA implemented this mandate by requiring all grantee to certify that they would follow such a guideline. Several artists and arts organizations refused NEA grants that year as a protest, and a federal court subsequently invalidated the certification requirement as unconstitutionally vague. That specific provision lapsed with the end of FY 1990, but similar language still governs the NEA. Under current federal law, 20 USC 954(d), grants are to be made according to artistic excellence and artistic merit, "taking into consideration general standards of decency and respect for the diverse beliefs and values of the American public" (the NEA has interpreted this to mean, in concrete terms, that the composition of its advisory panels should reflect the nation's geographic and social diversity). Also, NEA regulations must indicate that "obscenity is without artistic merit, is not protected speech, and shall not be funded." Even without controversy over specific exhibits, a Republican-controlled House of Representatives has continued to attack the NEA as a symbol of government waste and elitism. On July 10, 1997, the House voted 217-216 to dismantle the NEA and replace it with block grants to state art commissions and local school boards. The effort was dropped in a conference committee with the Senate later that fall, and the NEA continued to survive in 2001. Less visibly, NEA funding has fallen considerably in the 1990s. Funding had already been declining in inflation-adjusted dollars from a peak in 1979 when the crisis of 1989 and 1990 broke out, and the fall only accelerated afterwards. Funding in fiscal year 1999 was $97.966 million, whereas just four years earlier, the agency had received $162.311 million. During this time, funding for the arts has moved increasingly to the private sector, such as businesses and foundations.   Obscenity law and banned books (last updated August 2001) Obscenity was considered in the 1930s to mean works that, when viewed in their entirety, were "tending to stir the sex impulses or to lead to sexually impure and lustful thoughts" and thus outside the scope of First Amendment protection. But in 1933, Judge John Woolsey lifted the 11-year ban on James Joyce's book Ulysses after finding that the book did not meet this definition; Woolsey wrote that he and two friends had read the book and that their opinion was that the book was not obscene and "its net effect on [the two friends] was only that of a somewhat tragic and very powerful commentary on the inner lives of men and women." Until Woolsey's decision, no one could legally publish Ulysses in the United States and eager readers had to smuggle copies in from France. The definition of obscenity developed in the 1950s and further on, starting with the Supreme Court's opinion as written by Justice Brennan in the jointly decided cases of Roth v United States and Alberts v California in 1957. There, Brennan acknowledged that materials could deal with sex and not be obscene; such works would be obscene and thus outside First Amendment protection only if they dealt with sex "in a manner appealing to prurient interest," that is, with a tendency to excite lustful thoughts. That definition of obscenity was clarified in 1973 with the Supreme Court's ruling in a group of obscenity-pornography cases known collectively as Miller v California. Material was legally obscene if:
Obscenity on Television and the V-Chip (last updated February 3, 2004) (back to top) Television networks such as CBS can indeed be fined by the federal government for allowing certain words to be said or things to be shown - such as curse words or even Janet Jackson's breast - but only if they broadcast such things outside of the legislatively-created "safe harbor" between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., when children presumably are not watching or listening. The Federal Communications Commission is authorized to regulate obscene speech on television and radio. The FCC's power to regulate is rooted in constitutional law because there is no constitutional right to obscene speech; the Supreme Court has held that the First Amendment does not protect obscene speech, which is defined as material appealing to a prurient interest, depicting sexual conduct, and lacking literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
CPB/PBS (last updated November 2, 2001) For much of the 20th century, the federal government has supported private, nonprofit efforts to promote public broadcasting, first through radio and then through television as these media developed. Since the late 1960s, these efforts have been coordinated through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private, non-profit corporation created by Congress to promote public broadcasting services and to invest in local radio and television stations. In 1969, the CPB formed the Public Broadcasting Service, a private, nonprofit program-distribution company owned and operated by the country's public television stations (there are now about 350). A year later, in 1970, the CPB formed National Public Radio. The CPB is funded solely by the federal government, and it then distributes this money to PBS, NPR, and other producers and distributors of public broadcasting. CPB funding has fluctuated but has generally stayed around $300 million in 2000 dollars over the last decade (higher amounts in the early 1990s included funding for a satellite replacement fund).   Poet Laureate (last updated April 26, 2002) A largely honorary position designed to inspire Americans' poetic impulses, the United States' Poet Laureate has existed in one way or another since the 1930s. Unlike Britain's poet laureates, the United States' poet laureate is not expected to write poems for national ceremonies but has generally served to promote poetry in other, more subtle ways. The current poet laureate is Billy Collins, whose first term runs from October 2001 to May 2002 and was re-appointed for a second term. A professor at Lehman College, City University of New York, Collins is the 38th person named as the nation's spokesperson for poetry. The Librarian of Congress has appointed a consultant in poetry regularly since 1937, when it named Joseph Auslander as the first "consultant in poetry to the Library of Congress." The title was formally changed by law to "Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry at the Library of Congress" in 1985. The change was sponsored by Senator Spark Matsunaga (D-Hawaii), who had long campaigned for the change and who was an amateur poet himself. Matsunaga originally proposed having the president appoint the poet laureate, but the bill was revised to continue having the Librarian of Congress make the selection. The poet laureate receives a $35,000 annual stipend, which is funded by a private gift, and has no specific duties other than giving an annual lecture and reading of his or her poetry. The poet laureate usually introduces poets in the Library of Congress's annual poetry series, and typically uses the position as a platform to bring poetry more to the public. For example, Robert Pinsky, who served a record three consecutive terms as poet laureate from 1997 to 2000, began the Favorite Poems project, in which Americans were videotaped performing their favorite poem (Bill Clinton read Concord Hymn by Ralph Waldo Emerson). Billy Collins has started the Poetry 180 program, which encourages the reading of daily poems in American high schools. Of the 38 people appointed poet consultant or laureate, eight have been women (two of the 11 poet laureates have been women). Two African-Americans have served as poet consultant or laureate: Gwendolyn Brooks in 1984-85 (the last consultant before the position was changed) and Rita Dove in 1993-94, who was the first African-American and the youngest person appointed as laureate. Some of the most prominent poet consultants or laureates include Robert Frost, who served from 1958 to 1959, and Robert Penn Warren, who served as consultant in 1944-45 and as the first poet laureate in 19860-87. Of course, not every prominent American poet has served as poet laureate. Maya Angelou attained widespread prominence for giving Bill Clinton's 1993 inaugural address, "On the Pulse of Morning." Seamus Heaney drew public attention after winning the Nobel Prize for Poetry in 1995. Controversy has occasionally clouded the Library of Congress poetry position. William Carlos Williams was appointed in 1952 but never served due to his ill health and to attacks that he was a Communist; Williams had his appointment revoked and eventually re-instated as long as he could complete loyalty procedures, but his term expired before he could ever serve in the post. While the ancient Greeks celebrated poets with wreathes of laurel and universities designated some poets as "laureates" by medieval times, the tradition of recognizing a nation's poet goes back to 17th century England. In 1668, King Charles II appointed John Dryden as Britain's first poet laureate, beginning a tradition that has continued to the present day. Some prominent British poet laureates include William Wordsworth (serving from 1843-50) and Alfred Tennyson (1850-92). Cecil Day-Lewis, who served from 1968 until his death in 1972, is perhaps best known to American audiences as the father of actor Daniel Day-Lewis. Sources: The Library of Congress has a site dedicated to poetry, on-line here. William McGuire, Poetry's Catbird Seat (Library of Congress, 1988). Nick Russel, Poets by Appointment: Britain's Laureates (Blandford Press, 1981). The Favorite Poets Project is on-line here. The Academy of American Poets, on-line here, provides biographical information here. Book Clubs (last updated May 8, 2002) (back to top) Book groups have moved into prominence in recent years as a way of encouraging reading. Perhaps most famously, talk show host Oprah Winfrey started a nationwide book club with her viewing audience in 1996 and named 46 books, mostly fiction, over the next six years. She halted the program in early 2002 after a public dispute with Jonathan Franzen, who initially expressed lukewarm feelings about her selection of his book "The Corrections" but later apologized. In 1998, Seattle became the first city to coordinate a citywide reading venture, "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book." The program's first book was "The Sweet Hereafter" by Russell Banks, followed by "A Lesson Before Dying" by Ernest Gaines in 1999, "Fooling with Words" by Bill Moyers in 2001, and "Wild Life" by Molly Gloss in 2002. Following Seattle's lead, many other cities and towns have begun coordinating their own citywide reading and discussion programs. The most prominent and successful by far has been Chicago's "One Book, One Chicago" program, which in the fall of 2001. During the program's seven-week run, tens of thousands of Chicagoans read and discussed Harper Lee's Pulitzer Prize-winning book "To Kill a Mockingbird." According to the Chicago Public Library's final report on the program, public demand for the book was huge. The library ordered an additional 2,000 copies of the book in advance of the program, and the resulting 3,678 copies circulated 6,500 times over the seven-week program; they would have circulated about 140 times during a normal period. Local bookstores and Amazon.com reported much higher-than-normal sales of the book. Discussion groups at local libraries and Starbucks coffee shops showed good attendance, as did movie marathons and even a mock trial conducted by local lawyers. The hardest part, Chicago librarians said in the report, was picking the right book for a city "as large and diverse as Chicago." New York librarians and book aficionados would agree. An ad hoc group of New York librarians tried picking a book in early 2002, but the effort never had official support and lost steam due to disagreements over people's different motives and agenda. As reported by the New York Times, the group voted in favor of Chang-rae Lee's "Native Speaker" but whether that choice ultimately stands was unclear. Other choices that were considered and rejected included "Ragtime" by E.L. Doctorow, "The Color of Water" by James McBride, and a fireman's 1972 memoir. Chicago, at least, has continued its "One Book, One Chicago" program. The choice for the spring of 2002 was "Night," by Elie Wiesel. Sources: The Chicago Public Library's "One Book, One Chicago" program is on-line here and its final report on the success of the "To Kill a Mockingbird" session is on-line here. The Washington Center for the Book at the Seattle Public Library's "If All of Seattle Read the Same Book" project is on-line here. Oprah's Book Club is on-line here. David D. Kirkpatrick, Want a fight? Pick one book for all New Yorkers, New York Times, February 19, 2002. Marc Ramirez, On the same page? The plot's thickened as other cities copy Seattle's novel reading idea, Seattle Times, March 24, 2002. |
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