Bill Ivey Proposes a “Cultural EPA”

(7-26-10) July 25, Drake Bennett for The Boston Globe:

...Ivey has an ambitious proposition: create what he calls a “cultural EPA.” His vision is not a European-style culture ministry, but a federal agency that would make sure no one gained too much control over the nation’s cultural assets: Just as the Environmental Protection Agency was created to regulate any activity that exploited the nation’s environmental resources, so would a cultural EPA regulate activities that affect the nation’s cultural riches.

Rather than relying on a disparate band of artists, First Amendment campaigners, local-radio enthusiasts, music historians, archivists, and the like, the nation’s cultural life would have a defender with the weight of the executive branch behind it, and the power to discipline and compel corporate behavior: to hold up mergers that threatened to concentrate too many cultural resources in one company’s hands, to weigh in on international trade deals and to reshape the way copyrights are awarded, and to regulate the airwaves with an eye on a broader sense of cultural vitality rather than chasing down foul language and the occasional bared breast....

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