policy, politics, poetry, and pop culture

Drudge First, You’re Next

You’ve all heard the AP hoopla, they want bloggers to stop copying AP content, and recently went after The Drudge Retort for doing so.

The AP want bloggers to pay them for content.

Words Fees
5-25 $ 12.50
26-50 $ 17.50
51-100 $ 25.00
101-250 $ 50.00
251 and up $ 100.00

They ask for your blog address at the bottom of the form.

Luckily for me the Darfur blog does not use American media most of the time unless we are putting out releases sent to us. I think this is a little ridiculous, but as I’m tired of full cut and paste posts with not single original thought this will not hurt my feelings.

In the end this will only hurt the AP. Have they not heard that most people my age can email their friends in Bejeng with the query 什麼是詞n街道我的朋友?( forgive me Hui )

Sure, there is that little firewall problem, but that is easier to get around than we might think.

I blame their own report – a recently concluded ethnographic study of the Deep Structure of Young Adult News Consumption( pdf)

Done under the guise of finding out what young people wanted from news, but for the purpose of finding out how they could use the internet as a their own cash cow.

Forgive the Anthropologists, they know not what they do.

Peace

21 Thoughts on “Drudge First, You’re Next

  1. Hadn’t seen that report posted in any of the articles on this, but it did come out only days ago. Not a coincidence I’m guessing.

    I kind of bugged right now by what you said to your Chinese friend. Because I can’t read it.

  2. Yes, I have a rather large distaste for people who cut and paste their entire post with no original content on their own. I always though a good site had stuff that was creative, entertaining, AND personal. I never got posts with little or no personal commentary from the site owner.that are nothing but road signs leading you to somebody else’s site.

  3. 18 people from 2 specific geographic areas doesn’t make a proper study.

    I stopped reading all blogs but personal as if I want information I would rather go to the source. Hyperlnking is a great way of citing and an occasional quote shows a point, breaks up writing etc.

    I’m against paying for content–but when I think about it, there are an awful lot of bloggers who do carry ads, make much money, and their blogs are nothing but links. How much would an image cost or are they public?

    I don’t think any generation en masse wants to think but perhaps this will force some bloggers to think or fold up shop and I can’t feel badly about that

    I can’t remember what dialect is spoken in Beijing and I too want to know what it says.

  4. Does this mean for the AP articles where they just say the same thing three different ways they’re hoping to get triple pay? Drudge doesn’t post articles, just titles and links so this won’t affect those sites, just some lazy-ass bloggers who won’t pay. Why do I get the feeling AP might even try some Javascript hack and popup a warning when a visitor selects text to copy…oh well. I guess I find this effort on their part sad.

  5. Meh. Ambrose Bierce is public doman.

    Should we all start posts with “According to the Associate Press,” just to mess with them?

  6. The problem is news is not owned by anyone, it happens and it belongs to the world. It’s not that difficult to paraphrase the facts of an incident and totally skip even referring to AP sources. I think they have screwed themselves.

  7. I like the idea of writing “according to the AP” before every post.

    What they are saying is ” we own the news”. I agree. Won’t work ,they are not the only source of news. With print news publications making less than they used to they are grasping at figuring how to make money on line.

    I do understand the larger scale Drudge is a rather big site. Little bloggers though?
    Come on.

    Are they afraid that people will read the bloggers and not them?

    I love the Chinese touch.

    The more I look at that price list the more I want to laugh. How absurd.

  8. They are straight tripping…

  9. Well, I wish I could feel sorry for political and celebutard gossip bloggers who basically openly plagiarize news wire services, but hotlinking, cutting-and-pasting, and reprinting without citation or rights to redistribution doth not equate with fair-use, especially when so many folks are making a profit over repackaging – with their own sociopolitical spin – the hard work of others.

    It’s nothing new. Academic publishers have similar arrangements, in fact, with some libraries, based moreso on individual site licenses and access. It’s why your local small-town public library doesn’t have an online scrip to services like EBSCO and most academic libraries don’t waste precious budgetary funding on pop mags like People or Us Weekly, unless there’s a specific curricular need.

    And poor, poor Drudge. Maybe he should go back to working in a network gift shop. Maybe if he’d paid attention in high school and college during those “When in doubt, cite it out” research paper – heavy courses…

    Actually, bloggers shouldn’t complain about the prices – go ask a local newspaper publisher or station manager about those AP, Reuters, or other wire service packages – pretty big chuck of the operating budget. I expect all wire services will switch over to a similar pay-to-play direct buy format – news reporting may be a community service, but it’s an expensive private sector enterprise. And AP’s the granddaddy of them all, the first “Internet.”

  10. Do you think that means posts dark balck dresses? lol

    I’m a random blog reader, yet I’ve notcied over the last year there are more and more useless blogs started with nothing but cut and pasted information so it will not be a sad day for me. On the other hand it does seem like a rather lame attempt to stoke a business which has to start switching over to making most of their mney online.

    I don’t like no comment posts.

    I don’t like no comment post….hint hint.
    I did my writing this morning on the Chapman thing.

  11. I’m late, and because your comments are off above I’m going to tell you I am writing all the sponsors of that icon of American pathology.

    I guess I’m going ot have to think about the AP because I use their stuff. Don’t read anoyne who does though. Isn’t that strange. I’m not a real bogger, as I ‘ve often said I’m your best audeince.

    The Russert post is bittersweer and I ilike the title.

    You friend don’t have to worry, you don’t need the AP.

  12. When I get stuff off the AP Wire, I give credit.

    But I also believe in fair use. If I pay a subscription to a newspaper and it runs an AP story, am I not already paying for the AP story? Plus, if I post an article – regardless of source – I do so with the intention of starting a discussion. My pointy little head tells me that the AP then gets a bit more traffic. Good for them, eh?

    They can come after me if they’d like.

    They’d lose. And they know it. Greedy bastards.

  13. When I get stuff off the AP Wire, I give credit.

    But I also believe in fair use. If I pay a subscription to a newspaper and it runs an AP story, am I not already paying for the AP story? Plus, if I post an article – regardless of source – I do so with the intention of starting a discussion. My pointy little head tells me that the AP then gets a bit more traffic. Good for them, eh?

    They can come after me if they’d like.

    They’d lose. And they know it. Greedy little buzzards.