This is pretty outrageous. It seems to me that publishers, specifically mainstream media owners of entities like the AP and Murdoch’s array of properties, just don’t get it. People write about what they’ve read. I don’t know how many are reporting that it is original content, but I doubt that they know either. The places I go to, all link to the site from which they obtain discussion material. I’m assuming that these people are complaining about bloggers, so as a new blogger, I have to wonder where they are going with this. At some point, the core issue to them lies in the fact that people communicate about what they’ve read and experienced. Whatever it may be. People will talk about it. You can’t put a pay-wall up on that. No one can stop me from talking about what I’ve read. No one. If the material I’m speaking about offends someone, it will take a court order to have me remove it. And rightfully so. Today’s Internet is a forum for conversation, like the Casino’s of yesteryear.
So, when I came across this article in Newsweek, I was surprised it was in a major media outlet. They seem to get it. The article focuses primarily on Google, they link to content, but content that links to the article online is meant to drive traffic to the site. Frankly, I hope that Murdoch and the AP pull their reporting from Google. There won’t be much traffic going to their material, they won’t be able to pay their reporters, and the reporters will go to other outlets that have forward looking leadership.
The moment a pay wall goes up, will be the moment that profits will hurt the investors in these organizations who seek to limit the transfer of knowledge. I don’t mind people wanting to get paid, but calling people who link, talk, or even quote articles of news outlets; as thieves, plagiarists, and kleptomaniacs of “our content” just don’t get it.
ALL news would get out at some point, the only race is the profiteering. Who gets it out first. One organization or another. The content is not yours, you report on whatever everyone else does. You are reactionary, you don’t create anything. The world goes on, and you report it. With the realtime world building, it is getting tougher. Twitter, Facebook, and others will continue to creep into the realm of yesterday reporting.
We’ll see what the future holds.
Related posts:
You must log in to post a comment.