Here’s the real issue behind the fall of the Newspaper industry. What will all those bloggers do when there are no newspapers left and they can’t scrape content from a newspaper while hiding behind the “fair use” doctrine?
If you’re not familiar with scraping content, it works like this. Cut and paste the opening paragraph from the online version of an in print Newspaper article. You can put it in quotes, with a link to the original source if you are generous, or just reference it without a source. Charts and tables are also copied into the blog. You then frame the content with your thoughts on it afterward.
You’d be surprised how much web content is derived from this without any thought to how difficult it is to write these newspaper articles. No consideration is given to the hours spent researching stories or wading through dense government press releases, or the years spent cultivating sources, etc.
I just looked at the front page of a highly followed blogger who has been in the news a lot lately, and fully 50% of his stories are scraped from other publications. This blogger does give full credit to the source with a link. Just something to think about.
Friday, July 10, 2009
What Will The End of Newspapers Mean For Blogging?
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5 comments:
I think blogger will be forced to go out and find news for themselves. That's a good question though. You will see more people on the street I suppose.
Regards,
Jay
I've had thoughts along that line myself, but have kept quiet about the issue. Amongst the conservative kind, raising it's an easy way to get yourself pegged as a snotty liberal.
[I once broached the point at smalldeadanimals.com by saying that its blogmistress provides a valuable service by doing what the ombudspeople won't or can't.]
I was being a little dramatic, of course, as not all newspapers will disappear, but it is something to think about.
I am completely agree with Eric
What's the difference between a blogger and a reporter? A reporter for a large newspaper may have resources that an independent blogger does not, but most reporters don't work for large newspapers. In the majority of cases there's no distinction. Good journalists do good investigative work, whether they publish online, or in print. The end of newspapers will probably mean that reporters will get paid less as bloggers.
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