Arts Are Newsworthy
The news cycle consists of news, sports and weather, but what about news on the arts and culture sector?
2SER Breakfast‘s Willy Russo spoke to Melbourne based author, artist and fellow broadcaster Tai Anaith. Tai is one of the trio behind the ‘Arts are Newsworthy’ campaign which petitions the right to secure a regular slot in the nightly news for Australia’s arts and culture sector.
Tai Snaith, Nina Sanadze and Mia Salsjö, started the petition after being inspired by Monique Germon’s letter to the editor which was written 10 years ago and went viral at the time, “all of a sudden our idea took off as other people felt the same way, especially during COVID”.
In the podcast Tai stated that “because the arts are suffering so bad at the moment, especially preforming artists and musicians, a lot of people are out of work because of the pandemic. We need hope to make positive processes and one of the things the arts does so well is cultivate hope and good hormones in your brain which actually spur you into positive action”.
“The arts is about really interesting and challenging thinking that makes you think about what are you here for, and what do you do with yourselves apart from work and the answer is often consume the arts or make the arts”. Many countries including France, Germany, Britain, Poland and New Zealand have implemented unemployment systems for artists that acknowledge the seasonality of their employment and assists with freelancers’ income during slow periods such as the pandemic.
During COVID I’m sure we have all watched countless hours of Netflix, read many books, and listened to a variety of music, and it is often forgotten that these topics are also what comprise of the arts sector and bring millions of people together. Therefore, it is undeniable that the impact the arts have on individuals is immense, and this should be displayed for all to see as there is an obvious need for it.
The petition has now gained almost 15,000 signatures and counting!
