NCH WASHINGTON UPDATE (Vol. 12, #16; 7 APRIL 2006)
2. CONGRESSMAN URGES SUPPORT FOR SMITHSONIAN ADMISSION FEE
3. CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORTERS OF NHPRC ISSUE "DEAR COLLEAGUE" LETTER
4. EMERSON PRIZES TO RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING STUDENT WORK IN HISTORY
5. BITS AND BYTES: New Distance Learning Course Announced; International Museum Day; CRM Journal Now Online
6. ARTICLES OF INTEREST: "$200 Million Gift Prompts Debate Over Antiquities" (New York Times)
1. SMITHSONIAN SEMI-COMMERCIAL DEAL WITH SHOWTIME DRAWS FIRE 2. CONGRESSMAN URGES SUPPORT FOR SMITHSONIAN ADMISSION FEE 3. CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORTERS OF NHPRC ISSUE "DEAR COLLEAGUE" LETTER 4. EMERSON PRIZES TO RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING STUDENT WORK IN HISTORY 5. BITS AND BYTES: New Distance Learning Course Announced; International Museum Day; CRM Journal Now Online 6. ARTICLES OF INTEREST: "$200 Million Gift Prompts Debate Over Antiquities" (New York Times)
1. SMITHSONIAN SEMI-COMMERCIAL DEAL WITH SHOWTIME DRAWS FIRE The Smithsonian Institution has joined forces with Showtime Networks Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of CBS Corporation that operates a premium cable service that provides everything from original programming and uncut movies to late night adult fare, has formed a joint venture with the Smithsonian Institution (SI) to develop, launch, and operate a Smithsonian television programming service called "Smithsonian on Demand." Asserting that "no filmmaker has done programs about the Institution's objects in more than 20 years" the SI's goal is to create more than 100 branded, original content programs a year about the Smithsonian's collections and research. The deal also will brings in an undisclosed amount of new revenue source to the financially strapped institution. The SI hopes to have about 40 hours of programming available to about 25 million households by December 2006 when officials plan on launching the service.
But a chorus of independent film-makers, including Ken Burns, producer of many award-winning PBS series such as "Jazz" and "The Civil War" and Laurie Kahn-Leavitt, producer of the award-winning film "Tupperware!" call foul, protesting what appears to be a near-exclusive deal. The filmmakers contend that the deal unreasonably restricts access to the institution's scientists, archives, objects and collections. Burns said, "I find this deal terrifying," and Leavitt declared, "I think this is obscene...I am not against them having a deal with Showtime that is lucrative, but the archives are for the public to use."
SI insiders report that decisions on the semicommercial deal were made "at the Castle level" with little consultation or input being sought from the management and staff of individual museums that comprise the Smithsonian family of museums. While SI officials assert that the institution "explored other media outlets" the selection of Showtime was not subjected to competitive bidding – the process generally adhered to by governmental agencies when considering proposals from private sector entities wishing to do business with the government. Reportedly, several SI museums that work closely and have "an active relationship" with filmmakers have concerns, as many of their filmmaker partners now feel shut out. The National Museum of American History and the National Air and Space Museum, for example, both work closely with independent producers who make programs for broadcast on PBS, The History Channel, C- SPAN, and the Discovery Channel.
Except for news programs (such as "60 Minutes", "Dateline," and "Frontline") and existing deals with a select number of filmmakers whose projects are being grandfathered in, as of 1 January 2006, the new policy has been limiting access to Smithsonian staff curators, scientists, and experts as well as public collections for film-makers who are making more than "incidental" use of the Smithsonian resources.
If a filmmaker, for example, wanted to produce a documentary about anthropology, dinosaurs, or the Hope diamond, they would first have to run the proposal past SI and Showtime officials. If Showtime declined to produce the program, the Smithsonian still has the ability to enter into what officials claim is "a limited number of contracts" outside of the Showtime deal. But if the Smithsonian declined to produce the program itself, the program just doesn't get the green light to get made. SI officials assert that 24 of 26 requests submitted under the terms of the new policy have been approved. Nevertheless, independent film-makers will not have in-depth use of Smithsonian collections or its archives without first dealing with a potential commercial competitor. Margaret Drain, vice president for national programs at public television outlet WGBH Boston fears that PBS mainstay programs like "NOVA" and "The American Experience" would suffer greatly because of the new restrictions. "These are programs that regularly rely on the collections of the Smithsonian" she said, "If access is restricted, we are really going to be in trouble."
Thus far, the Smithsonian has declined several requests (including one from the National Coalition for History) for a copy of the Smithsonian/Showtime agreement, insisting that the terms of all such commercial agreements are "proprietary." In response, interested parties and organizations, including the Center for American Progress have begun to simultaneously make Freedom of Information Requests (while the SI is exempt from provisions of FOIA the institution has nearly always complied with the FOIA provisions; for the Center for American Progress FOIA request go to <http://public.resource.org/sunshine.html>) are making contact with members of Congress and Congressional committees for copies of the agreement in an attempt to gain a more in-depth understanding of the more complex aspects of the agreement.
A number of other organizations have begun to raise concerns about the Showtime deal. The Society of American Archivists, for example, is crafting a formal statement and a letter to the editor for distribution to national press outlets. Early next week, a consortium of national organizations, including the National Coalition for History will be meeting to see how best national groups can weigh in on the controversy.
Clearly, the motive behind the deal is twofold: the Smithsonian is looking for a way to develop its own film and television materials at no cost to the institution, and it wants to boost its non-federal revenue stream. The needs are great. Recently, when appearing before a Congressional appropriations committee, SI officials stated that in addition to the $644 million requested federal appropriation it needs to operate the museums under its jurisdiction, an additional $100 million to reduce a backlog of repairs. One way to raise funds for the SI is to expand the Smithsonian Business Ventures division activities. SI officials apparently concluded that cable television "video on demand" (or VOD) was a potentially lucrative funding stream even though only some 25 million homes currently have on-demand service. SI officials are counting on an expansion of digital cable services, which is considered by some as the fastest growing segment of the cable market.
The commercial agreement with Showtime is not the first nor the last for the Smithsonian. SI officials have already entered into an agreement with book publisher Harper Collins that amounts to an exclusive "right of first refusal" for that publishing house for SI-related publications and related materials; sources inside the SI also state that an agreement with Corbis (a major commercial photo archives) for SI photographic images is also in the works.
2. CONGRESSMAN URGES SUPPORT FOR SMITHSONIAN ADMISSION FEE In light of the fiscal plight of the Smithsonian Institution (SI) Congressman Jim Moran (D-VA), a key member of the House Appropriations Committee, has suggested that the law should be changed to enable the SI to charge admission. His suggestion has met with mixed reaction by Hill watchers.
For more than 160 years admission to Smithsonian museums has been free to the visiting public. Four museums are legally forbidden from charging admission, and the Smithsonian Board of Regents has rejected proposals to charge admission at least three times in recent years.
While few members of Congress would object to Moran's proposal for "a buck or two" admission, with a near $100 million maintenance backlog, the fee would probably not stay very low for long. Critics also maintain that in time, once the admission fees began to generate a significant enough revenue flow, Congress would merely use the fee money to "offset" Congressional funds thus lowering levels of federal support for the national museums as this has happened with the national parks and other fee collecting land management agencies.
3. CONGRESSIONAL SUPPORTERS OF NHPRC ISSUE "DEAR COLLEAGUE" LETTER The co-chairs of the Congressional Humanities Caucus, Rep. Jim Leach (R-IA) and Rep. David Price (D- NC), have prepared a Dear Colleague letter in support of the National Historical Publications and Records Commission (NHPRC), the grant-making arm of the National Archives and Records Administration that was "zeroed-out" in President Bush's FY 2007 budget. A "Dear Colleague" letter is the primary way that a member of Congress is able to communicate support for a federal agency program to the appropriations committee with jurisdiction over that program.
The letter requests $12 million ("full-funding" for national programs plus $2 million for staffing) for the NHPRC. The letter also calls for a portion of the funds to be used "to strengthen statewide disaster preparedness" and to provide "funding...to assist all states in developing state disaster plans for both vital and historical records" – in essence the state formula grant program endorsed by several national archival organizations and expected to be embraced by the NHPRC on a formal basis at a future meeting.
The letter seeks to persuade members that funding to the full authorized level is necessary to continue to provide access to key documents of our democracy, history, and culture and to provide much needed federal support for records held by state and local governments, historical societies, libraries, and related organizations. The deadline for Members of Congress to sign-on is Friday, 14 April 2006.
Readers who wish to urge their member of Congress to "sign-on" to the "Dear Colleague" may call, email, or fax representatives and ask them to sign this letter. A large number of signatures on the Dear Colleague letter, particularly if they represent both sides of the aisle, will send a very important message to decision-makers within the Transportation/Treasury subcommittee as they begin to work on the mark-up of the FY 2007 appropriations bill.
A draft message that readers can consider using is posted on the "Humanities Advocacy Network" (a joint undertaking of the National Coalition for History, the National Humanities Alliance, and the Federation of State Humanities Councils) at < http://www.humanitiesadvocacy.org/action_ctr.html >. You can use this site to compose and send e-mails to Congress.
To do so, here is what you do: Click on the web link address above; at the Humanities Advocacy Network main web page click on "Action Center" button (second from the left); next, click on the "Issues and Legislation" "click here" button (3rd button down) and follow the instructions in the "Current Action Alerts" section that pops up next and reads "Save the NHPRC." Additional talking points at this web site are provided to help customize your message. You may also use the Humanities Advocacy Network to compose and print out letters to fax.
All members of Congress can also be reached by phone through the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224- 3121.
4. EMERSON PRIZES TO RECOGNIZE OUTSTANDING STUDENT WORK IN HISTORY The twelfth annual Ralph Waldo Emerson Prizes for student work of outstanding academic promise in history at the secondary level will be awarded in Spring 2006, to a half dozen students according to Will Fitzhugh, editor and publisher of The Concord Review. Each Emerson Prize laureate will receive a check for $3,000, and a copy of David McCullough''s Pulitzer Prize-winning biography Truman, along with the letter of award.
Among this year's winners are S. Wylie Galvin of Washington, DC (St Albans School, now at Yale), Elizabeth Lee Jemison of Memphis, Tennessee (St. Mary''s Episcopal, now at Princeton), Oliver Mains of Ross, California (Branson School, now at Reed), Ezekiel Rediker of Pittsburgh (Taylor Allderdice High School, now at Cornell), and Shaina Wright, a senior at Horace Greeley High School in Chappaqua, New York. To date, Emerson awards have been presented to 45 high school students, from Alabama, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Czechoslovakia, Florida, Illinois, Japan, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, New Zealand, Ontario, Russia, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, and Washington State.
The awards will be presented during a ceremony to take place at the History Department of Governor Dummer Academy in Byfield, Massachusetts (the oldest independent boarding school in the United States) on 23 April.
Founded in 1987, The Concord Review, the first and only quarterly journal in the world for the academic work of secondary students, has published 65 issues with 715 essays (average 5,500 words, with Turabian endnotes and bibliography) by students of history in forty-four states and thirty-three other countries. These exemplary essays have been distributed to subscribers throughout the United States and in thirty-two other countries.
5. COLE LAYS OUT NEH PROGRAM GOALS DURING APPROPRIATION HEARING On 29 March, National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Chair Bruce Cole presented testimony on behalf of the proposed budget for his agency – $141 million that includes just over $15 million for the history-centered "We the People" program.
Appearing before the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, Cole stated that he wanted to use the occasion to "talk about the need to increase Americans' knowledge and understanding of their history and culture." He summarized the endowment's needs and discussed a number of new initiatives, including the initiative to digitize the papers of the nation's first four presidents and to mount these documents on the Internet. He also discussed a new program initiative to preserve and increase access to the papers of former members of Congress.
In what attendees characterized as a routine and uneventful hearing, Cole was asked a number of questions by Committee Chair Charles Taylor (R-NC) about the digitization and history-related initiatives. Ranking Minority member Norm Dicks (D-WA) tried to get Cole to comment on how increased agency overhead and administrative costs were impacting programs; Cole artfully deflected the question.
Following Cole's appearance, the committee considered the budget requests of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Smithsonian Institution.
5. BITS AND BYTES Item #1 – New Distance Learning Course Announced: A new distance learning course, African American Heritage and Ethnography, has been developed by the National Park Service's Ethnography Program. The course is designed for cultural resource management professionals, historic preservationists, interpreters, anthropologists, archeologists, teachers, educators, and those who want to learn more about African American cultural heritage, ethnohistory, associated anthropological research, and heritage preservation. For information visit: http://www.cr.nps.gov/ethnography/aah/aaheritage/index.htm .
Item #2 – International Museum Day: The International Council of Museums' theme for International Museum Day - 18 May 2006 - is "Museums and Young People." The program seeks to raise awareness on how young people can participate in redefining the mission and practices of heritage institutions in the 21st century and how museums can contribute to shaping tomorrow's society by interacting with young people. For additional information, go to: http://icom.museum/2006_contents.html .
Item #3 – CRM Journal Now Online: The first four issues of CRM Journal, a publication of the National Park Service targeted to cultural resource specialists, are now online. The journal, as well as other NPS history-related publications – Common Ground and Heritage News – is fully searchable, including the archives of the previous versions of both Common Ground and CRM magazine. For access to the online journals, go to: http://www.cr.nps.gov/CRMJournal .
6. ARTICLES OF INTEREST One posting this week: "$200 Million Gift Prompts Debate Over Antiquities" (New York Times; 1 April 2006) raises questions about the recent $200 million donation in cash and real estate for the founding of an ancient studies institute....By accepting the money, the article notes, the university tacitly approved the donor's practice of buying Greek and Roman antiquities, including some that experts believe were looted from archaeological sites. For the article, go to: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/01/arts/01gift.html .