Publisher's Synopsis
Soon after Margaret Thatcher came to power, her first arts minister described business sponsorship as 'an idea whose time has come'. Since then there has indeed been a considerable spread of sponsorship, not only in the arts, but in several other fields. This book provides the first comprehensive account of that spread and evaluates its influence. It asks: is sponsorship a form of philanthropy or a form of advertising? It describes the growth of "corporate entertaining", which often accompanies sponsorship in arts and sports, and asks: is this a new form of elitism? Sir Roy Shaw, former Secretary General of the Arts Council of Great Britain, and author of The Arts and the People, introduces the book and deals with the arts field. Five specialist contributors cover the other areas. Sport is dealt with by writer and broadcaster Tony Cook; education by Francis Beckett, contributor to The Independent and The Guardian; the health field by Michael O'Connor and Mike Rayner of the Coronary Prevention Group; broadcasting by Timothy Leggatt, communications consultant and former Director of the Broadcasting Research Unit.
