And so, as we contemplated the end of our contract with the Beast at the end of 2012, we faced a decision. As usual, we sought your input and the blogosphere’s - hence the not-terribly subtle thread that explored whether online readers will ever pay for content, and how. The answer is: no one really knows. But as we debated and discussed that unknowable future, we felt more and more that getting readers to pay a small amount for content was the only truly solid future for online journalism. And since the Dish has, from its beginnings, attempted to pioneer exactly such a solid future for web journalism, we also felt we almost had a duty to try and see if we could help break some new ground.
The only completely clear and transparent way to do this, we concluded, was to become totally independent of other media entities and rely entirely on you for our salaries, health insurance, and legal, technological and accounting expenses.
Sullivan and his staff are striking it out on their own. “And so last week, the three of us signed an agreement setting up an independent company called Dish Publishing LLC, and agreed to strike out on our own with no safety net below us but you.” Boom.
Andrew Sullivan has had a long week, guys.
meltdown is putting it lightly
Though you have to admit, his response to the article was pretty spot-on. “Buzzfeed has some fun. I deserve it.” I think Sullivan’s a legend at the blogging game, but they totally nailed this and created what’s probably their best article all week.
Once upon a time, the jobs in journalism were all at what we would consider traditional outlets — Time, Newsweek, ABC News, the Washington Post, etc. But these days, journalists who’ve had their pick of those publications are flocking to tech companies like Tumblr, Facebook and Twitter to create stories — content that competes, in breadth and scope, with the highest-caliber traditional publications. As print suffers a slow and painful decline, it’s not just the web that’s changing journalism as we know it — it’s tech companies like Tumblr and Facebook who are launching what could be the new new media movement. But what does this mean for the future of traditional journalistic outlets? Can a journalist remain objective when she’s employed by a company? Are journalists’ future homes in places that aren’t primarily about journalism, and should it be?
Interesting question. A thought on this: Tumblr is also creating a community of writers and journalists who wouldn’t need a job with traditional media with a little help on the traffic or monetization side. It’s one thing for Tumblr to hire people. It’s another for Tumblr to enable people to make their blog their full-time gig — so folks like those who went to Tampa and Charlotte to cover the conventions could rely on their work as their main source of income. There’s a lot more opportunity in that market (they already have the content verticals, without even really trying), and Tumblr could do more to tap the community’s creativity so it becomes sustainable creativity, the kind that strengthens the work they’re already doing.
“We got a call from Samsung India saying ‘You can either be a part of this and wear the uniform, or you’ll have to get your own tickets back home and handle your hotel stay from the moment this call ends…
A few minutes later, we got a call from the Samsung India guy who said that our flights on the 6th have been cancelled, and that they’re bringing us back on the 1st instead. But this is only if, and only if, we agreed to wear at least the samsung branded shirt at the unpacked event, and not blog about any of this incident.
“None of this should leave Berlin. Or Reach India” – Clinton Jeff
It sounds like Samsung frayed some wires, considering that the bloggers were decked in full Samsung swag and expected to demo products all day — when they were really there to actually cover the conference itself. As TheNextWeb’s Brad McCarty puts it: “So take care, bloggers and those hoping to be. The next time that you’re offered a trip in exchange for coverage, you might find yourself being fitted for a uniform, signing NDAs and demoing products upon which you’re supposed to be reporting.”
(Side note: Accepting tickets/gifts for things like this would be a no-no for many journalists — a noted political columnist recently got publicly reprimanded for this very type of thing — but bloggers who scrape by may work under different rules.)
When I started planning the site last summer, my plan was to make it more of a general-interest site. Then in November, when I left Poynter, I pretty much abandoned that plan to compete against my former employer. Finding a new tagline is on my to-do list.Blogger Jim Romenesko • Discussing why his “blog about media and other things I’m interested in” only seems to feature media posts. For a single individual, Romenesko is doing quite well on the blogging front, nearing the level of his former employer, Poynter, all by himself. He’s doing so well that his ad provider, BlogAds, is already talking about raising his rates. Not bad for a guy whose reputation took a public hit (though not without his defenders) a couple of months back.
The “blogger-not-a-journalist” thing still sticks, but … In the past few days, there’s been a bit of an uproar on the decision by a federal judge to decide, in a defamation case, that investigative blogger Crystal Cox isn’t a journalist protected by shield laws. We were ticked, too. However, Forbes reporter Kashmir Hill disputes the way the story was first presented by Seattle Weekly, which broke the story: “The facts in the case are far more complicated, and after hearing them, most journalists will not want to include Cox in their camp.” Hill points out that it appeared Cox was attempting to engage in reputation damage, not journalism, including sending out the e-mail shown above, in which Cox reportedly offered reputation-protection services. And ultimately, Cox’s claims —the ones that hit court after she was forced to give up her source — didn’t hold up to scrutiny. The fact of the matter is, the shield law element of this shouldn’t have even come up in the case: Even without it the claims wouldn’t have held up, according to Kevin Padrick, who claims ruin at the hands of Cox’s many sites. source
jacjacattack asks: i read your post about the oregon blogger, crystal cox, and i would love to hear your thoughts on the now-official divide between journalist and blogger, since you guys are (to my understanding) a bit of both. do you think that the court case will significantly change anything in the blogosphere? has it impacted how you run (or would run) shortformblog? (great blog by the way; very informative. thank you!) x
» SFB says: It’s early, and the decision only affects bloggers in Oregon at this point — and that’s only according to one judge. But now is a good time to definitely comb through journalist shield laws and figure out which states need updating. Seattle Weekly, which broke the story, talked to Bruce E. H. Johnson, the man who wrote the shield law in Washington, and he said this about the case: ”I believe the shield law would have been applied [in Washington state]. Oregon’s law was probably written before blogging was accounted for.” So, the real question is how to get these laws updated for an era where a “journalist” is anyone with a camera phone and a Twitter account. To answer your question: It’s too soon to say it’s had a chilling effect, but if it goes the wrong way, it certainly could. — Ernie @ SFB
Blogger told she’s not a journalist, fined $2.5 million: This is an important case. The Oregon blogger, Crystal Cox, runs a number of legal sites that play whistleblower to various firms. One of those firms, Obsidian Finance Group (they of obsidianfinancesucks.com), sued over defamatory postings. Nearly all of the alleged defamatory postings were thrown out in court — except for one. The post was fact-based, Cox claimed, as it was based on a source inside the company. But here’s the important part: A federal court claims that she’s not a journalist (as she doesn’t work for a media organization), despite the fact that the post was journalistic in nature, and she’s not subject to the shield laws that protect journalists in her state. Hence … the fine. This is important. Follow this story.
Edit: As the story continues to get press play, the story is becoming more complicated. More details here.
The Starbucks-fueled saga of how Jim Romenesko, beloved journalism blogger, took an early retirement.
| jimromenesko.com | Nov 2011
For a lot of folks, this is inside baseball. Poynter isn’t that big of a deal outside of journalism circles. But it’s really interesting inside baseball about a respected figure. The key line from this whole thing, which explains how journalism’s most beloved linksmith ended up leaving his platform of note? This one: “I was one of the few journalism town criers on the Internet a decade ago; now every news junkie with a Facebook page and Twitter feed is shouting out stories about the news business.”
imwithkanye asks: What is the one piece of news you wish you would had written or reported? Whose work do you admire the most?
» SFB says: Regarding the first half of that, I feel like, honestly, I try to catch as much as I can, but sometimes the beast that is limited resources can really get in the way. I wish the site could’ve done more with Occupy Wall Street some nights. I wish I could give equal weight to the natural disasters that come along (we covered Thailand’s recent flooding a little too lightly, for example). But with just a handful of writers, you have to be careful to ensure that your appetite is as big as your stomach. So often we’ll cover one story really well if it’s big enough, or touch on four or five at a time.
As for the second part: I’ve always told people that my two biggest inspirations in doing this blog are Andrew Sullivan and Charles Apple. You guys all know Sullivan. Some of you hate his work or obsessions with Trig Palin or whatever. I tend to think that he set many of the basic templates for mixing news and opinion in a blog; he’s a trailblazer, plain and simple. As for Charles Apple, he runs a newspaper-design blog that is more of a direct influence on what I do. When I started the site, I asked him for feedback; I still cite his site pretty regularly. I came from news design, and while SFB’s focus is broader than that, the numbers and blurbs come from those roots. Beyond that, I find ProducerMatthew’s work to be super-inspiring. — Ernie @ SFB (Alright, Office Hours over for now; we have one or two still sitting around and we’ll get to those over the next few days.)
Watch: PCB gets a visual shout out on GMA’s Yahoo/Tumblr...
Wrote a thing.
Hat tip to this headline writer.
Congrats Tumblr!
Don’t screw this up Yahoo.
In 2007, I was...
I started tumblr when I was at one of the lowest points of...
I applied for my first internship by turning in some high school essays. No one else applied, so I got the job. I was on academic probation twice in college. I’ve peed in the trash can of a rickety, old press box so I wouldn’t miss deadline. I got stumped on a story, went out to the bars, got re-inspired and passed out on my keyboard. Dennis Miller saw what I was eating at an event and made fun of me. It was hot dogs and cheesecake — free for working reporters. Bad grammar? I’ll probably hold it against you. Some weekends I don’t read a thing. I know I could make a mint doing something else but would it make the same difference? My father worked at a newspaper. He was a blue collar guy who worked graveyard shifts. It made him proud when he showed off my first byline to his friends in the press room.
I am a newspaper reporter.
Here’s a “We are the 99 percent” for the journalists out there: “We are journalists. We are proud of what we do. We are tired of bad press about the press. We are trying to be “team players.” We are terrified of more layoffs and paycuts. We would like to produce quality work without ‘obamasux99’ posting some non-sequitur rant at the end of it. We complain because we want things to be better. We would like some respect, plz. We are journalists.”
Just one day after the author behind a popular Syrian lesbian blog admitted to being a married, American man named Tom MacMaster, the editor of the lesbian news site Lez Get Real, with the tagline “A Gay Girl’s View on the World,” acknowledged that he is also a man.
“Paula Brooks,” editor…
I wasn’t trying to make a big deal out of this, guys, but out of fear that the truth will come out soon, it’s time to come clean. I’m actually a woman. — Ernie @ SFB
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