NEA Giveth & Taketh Away

The NEA has sharply cut the money it gives to PBS in arts programming grants, affecting such stalwart programs as Great Performances, American Masters, and POV. Gaming, mobile, and web-based projects are getting NEA money for the first time, however. Alyssa Rosenberg asks of this split: "How much of the organization’s work should focus on keeping alive high culture that has wealthy patrons but trouble attracting a new generation of mass-market attendees? And how much should it focus on driving the culture of the future?" Anthony Kaufman says this could mean trouble for traditional documentaries.