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I’m fed up of football having so much airtime + PR while the arts are thrown titbits of tokenistic, patronising ‘swan song’ coverage.
The arts contribute £10.8bn to the UK economy. The premier league: £7.6bn.
Creative industries as a whole: £100bn+. Sport as a whole: £39bn.
The arts contribute £10.8bn to the UK economy. The premier league: £7.6bn.
Creative industries as a whole: £100bn+. Sport as a whole: £39bn.
I’m not undermining the value of sport. I’m acknowledging how the media is constructing a dangerous ‘doomed’ narrative around the arts - which ripples outwards - in contrast to the fallen hero/triumphant return narrative about football, which is economically less valuable.
I think it reflects dangerous media stereotypes: the romance of impoverished artists and teasing audiences about their potential final demise; hypermasculine football stereotypes that champion the return of ‘our boys’ to the patriarchal norm of things.(Where is women’s football?)
Anyway. Whatever you think and whatever the reasons, the arts are being let down by the media in their reporting and programming agenda. We can do way more, and have more to say, than filling the last 30seconds of your show with a Zoom performance, as amazing as that is.
Eg. @bbcnews just spent half an hour analysing the return of the premier league. In the last few minutes, they showed two BBC broadcasters playing the Match Of The Day theme on piano + drums for a bit of fun. Music IS fun. But it’s so much more and deserves to be taken seriously.
PS. Here are the stats I've referred to:
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/contribution-arts-and-culture-industry-uk-economy-0
https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-policy-insight/insight-articles/the-beautiful-game
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-creative-industries-contributes-almost-13-million-to-the-uk-economy-every-hour
https://www.sportengland.org/why-were-here/economic-development
https://www.artscouncil.org.uk/publication/contribution-arts-and-culture-industry-uk-economy-0
https://www.britishcouncil.org/research-policy-insight/insight-articles/the-beautiful-game
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/uks-creative-industries-contributes-almost-13-million-to-the-uk-economy-every-hour
https://www.sportengland.org/why-were-here/economic-development
The stats are broad brushstrokes and it’s clearly more complex than simply comparing big financial numbers. But they are a useful 'way-in' to my area of interest: media coverage of football vs. the arts and the economic value of both. Without the stats, the disparities remain.
