Via Yahoo! News, the results of a government review of the Smithsonian’s contract with Showtime are in with mixed results. In case you haven’t heard, the Smithsonian signed a 30-year contract with Showtime to create a new channel of programming based on Smithsonian collections, expertise and branding. Announced months after it had taken effect and given that the institution receives federal funds, independent filmmakers and their representative organizations lobbied to have the decision scrutinized and possibly reversed anticipating competing commercial and public interests.

Released on December 15th, the Goverment Accountability Office reports of Smithsonian’s late disclosure and subsequent attempts to clarify, “the information that it has provided to interested parties has been insufficient.” Yet the report also says that the contract was implemented using proper procedure and that it is too early to determine the contract’s impact, even though “So far, 6 of 117 filming requests have involved a substantial amount of Smithsonian content - 2 were denied and 4 were approved as exceptions.” Read the GAO report>>

Thoughts?