The Associated Press has brought to the foreground the issue of "fair use" related to taking snippets from articles, according to an article in The New York Times.
Jim Kennedy, a seasoned journalist who is an AP vice president and director of strategic planning, is making the case that some blogs and content outlets are excerpting the "essence of an article," which he said should instead be encapsulated in very few words. The AP plans to come up with guidelines for excerpting from its news stories.
Jim Kennedy
(Credit: AP)In The New York Times story, Professor Timothy Wu of the Columbia University Law School says, "The principal question is whether the excerpt is a substitute for the story, or some established adaptation of the story."
There is a fuzzy line regarding "fair use" and how much excerpted content is fair. But most bloggers use common sense and extract snippets and provide links to make a point, not to create substitute for the story. I do find CNET News.com stories fully reproduced on sites, but they are the exception and clearly a violation of copyright.
Kennedy said that the spirit of the Internet is linking. But it is also excerpting snippets. Fundamentally, the Web is a content "refactory," in which new material is factored out of antecedent matter and connected in an information "web" via links and snippets.
The AP or any other source of so-called original content that is built partly on preexisting content easily accessible on the Internet can either participate in the Web refactory and live with the fuzziness, or become a pariah.
Here is an except and a link to what Jeff Jarvis, director of the interactive journalism program at the City University of New York's new Graduate School of Journalism, had to say about this issue:
Bloggers should not quote excessively from others' content and when they quote it should be for a reason--to agree, disagree, comment on, recommend, correct (there can be many reasons). This is fair use and fair comment. There can be no word-count limit because it depends on the use. If I want to fisk a story, I may well quote the whole thing because I am commenting on it all. The test is reasonableness: a fuzzy test, but life is fuzzy.
The AP, for its part, should recognize that they and their members now live in a new media ecology constructed of links, one they do not and cannot control any longer. To be good citizens in this new economy, the AP should respect the rights of readers who write and recognize the benefits of receiving links and credit, as the bloggers give it. They should further extend this ethic to their own work. And if there is conflict or questions, their reflex should not be to send their lawyers to write letters. Remember that you are dealing with individuals, not corporations. This was a hostile act and that is why it was met in return with hostility, deservedly so.
I never met Tim Russert, who died Friday of a heart attack, but I had an appointment with him almost every Sunday morning for Meet the Press. I watched the program to get my dose of political news, but more to watch Russert work. He epitomized what a journalist should be--smart, tough, fair and very well prepared.
An invitation to appear on Meet the Press, which Russert hosted for more than 15 years, was both highly prized and feared by those who entered Russert's den. He could be relentless at times in trying surface a point, often to the extent of making his guests sweat and silently pray for their segment to end. An interview could turn into an interrogation if Russert was on to something and the guest was avoiding questions. I learned from Russert that interviews are all about the homework, being thoroughly prepared and having the "evidence" at hand. He will be greatly missed.
(Credit:
NBC)
Sitting across from his employees and writers Walt Mossberg and Kara Swisher at the D6 conference, News Corp. mogul Rupert Murdoch shared his view on newspaper editing.
"A Wall Street Journal story is touched or edited by 8.5 people, and the story gets longer and longer, and people don't have time for that," he said. "There is not a story you can't get in half the space."
If the whole Wall Street Journal were like Mossberg's column, Murdoch said he would be a happy man, getting some big laughs from the D6 crowd. The 77-year-old media mogul understands the shortening attention span of the planet.
Murdoch apparently isn't fond of journalism prizes. "Stop having people write articles to win Pulitzer Prizes--give readers something they want to read."
Rupert Murdoch said at the D6 conference that Fox News is neutral, fair and balanced. Walt Mossberg's response: It has both sides, but it beats the crap out of one side. Murdoch also said he would hire a liberal commentator, but they are really hard to find. He admitted that for his network, it is more fun to make fun of liberals than conservatives.
(Credit: Dan Farber/CNET News.com)Murdoch: Obama will likely defeat McCain
The conservative Murdoch said it's likely that Obama will defeat McCain in the November presidential election. Politicians are despised by 80 percent of the population, and Obama is trying to put himself above it all, Murdoch said.
The tide is against the Republicans, and Obama could overcome the race issue. McCain, Murdoch said, is a friend, patriot, and decent guy, though he conceded also that he is unpredictable, has spent too much time in Washington, and is not great on the economy (which he said is in a recession) or organizationally adept.
Swisher asked Murdoch whom he would vote for, but the cagey Murdoch said he hasn't made up his mind. He said Obama would never give Hillary Clinton the vice presidential job and would want to distance himself from the Clintons. Murdoch described Obama as a "highly intellectual man" and said he wants to meet the candidate. He likes his plan to fix the U.S. educational system, which he called a total disgrace. "I want to know if he's going to walk the walk."
Murdoch predicted that the States will face an international crisis, such as with Iran, that will test out the candidates.
Mossberg asked Murdoch if he had anything to do with the New York Post's endorsement of Obama. Murdoch simply said, "Yes." It's not often that you hear that kind of honesty.
Murdoch believes that a way to solve the energy crisis more immediately than investing in alternative-energy sources such as nuclear, solar and wind power, is to drill for oil off the American West Coast and Alaska. The country "didn't buy Alaska to save a few elk," he said.
Among all the industry titans speaking at D6, the News Corp. chief was the sharpest, though Sony CEO Howard Stringer was the funniest.
Murdoch also revealed the secret to his persistence and success. "I'll keep going, as long as I have my curiosity and thirst for risk."
Click here for full coverage of the D: All Things Digital conference.
My favorite tech news "aggrefilter" Techmeme finally added a search function. It provides search results in reverse chronological order, but only for items that have appeared as full headlines on Techmeme.
Techmeme creator Gabe Rivera explains the new search function, which was developed by Omer Horvitz:
There are two overall modes of searching, depending on how "close" a result is desired. The default mode only returns matches occurring in the title or the first couple of sentences. Searching for "Yahoo" in this mode typically return stories about Yahoo. Unchecking "Search title & summary only" on the result page (or the bare bones page) enables search of the full article text. In this mode, any article simply mentioning "Yahoo" will appear.
Narrowing results by source url, author, date, and other attributes is also supported. For instance, "sourceurl:http://searchengineland.com/" returns posts only from the blog Search Engine Land (as seen here). A concise list of all the search operators involved is available through the "Advanced" link on a search results page (or again, on the bare bones page).
What's next? Search for Techmeme's sister sites are planned but not active as of today. Also on the way are RSS feeds for search results, the simplest kind of search "API."
See also: TechCrunch
(Credit:
Artwork: Susan Dove)
I never thought that Microsoft's unsolicited bid for Yahoo could get so interesting. It's taking on Shakespearian dimensions, with various factions lobbying, forming alliances, and establishing dowries for Yahoo's favor. In addition, News Corp. may be lending aid to Microsoft in its quest to acquire Yahoo.
Over the weekend, Steve Ballmer gave Jerry Yang three weeks to capitulate, or Microsoft would take its case directly to Yahoo shareholders. Today, 69 days into the negotiations and posturing, with Microsoft seemingly in the driver's seat, prognosticators are scratching their heads.
Yahoo and AOL are reportedly in deep talks to join forces. Also note that the Time Warner unit recently acquired the social-networking site Bebo.
According to The Wall Street Journal:
Under the terms being discussed between Yahoo and Time Warner, the latter would fold its AOL unit into Yahoo and make a cash investment in return for about 20 percent of the combined entity, people familiar with the situation said.
The deal, which wouldn't include AOL's dial-up access business, would value AOL at about $10 billion. As part of the deal, Yahoo would use the Time Warner cash and additional funds to buy back several billion dollars worth of its own stock at a price somewhere in the middle of the range, between $30 and $40 a share, the people said.
Yahoo is also testing the use of Google ads on a small percentage of its search pages. This could lead Yahoo to outsource its core ad search business to Google. As you might recall, Google and AOL have a connection. Google invested $1 billion in AOL in 2005 for a 5 percent stake, and it powers AOL search.
Rafat Ali of PaidContent said AOL and Google working together could help Yahoo stay independent:
If Yahoo can logically show that it gets a 30 percent to 40 percent revenue lift on the test, then they have a story to tell--that, if combined with AOL, they have enough scale, cut down costs by outsourcing search and search ads to Google, and add to that a possible share buyback with Time Warner supplying the extra cash, the combination has earned the right to stay independent.
At the same time, The New York Times is reporting that News Corp. (and its MySpace.com) may be considering throwing in with Microsoft to help acquire Yahoo.
The question for Yahoo shareholders will be which deal is best. AOL needs to find a home, and the combined AOL-Yahoo user base would be large. Getting leverage from the two audiences presents similar problems and overlapping to that of an MSN-Yahoo combination.
(Credit:
comScore)
Google would benefit by the Microsoft block, its AOL relationship, and potentially a partnership with Yahoo, which would mean that Google is the big winner. Microsoft would be the big loser, if it doesn't succeed in acquiring Yahoo. Of course, the antitrust regulators might have a say in the matter.
In some ways, Yahoo could be a loser as well, in that Microsoft would technically and financially be a stronger mate than AOL, especially in battling Google over the long-term.
Given all the recent activity, Yahoo's fate is less clear than when Microsoft was the only option. Perhaps, Yahoo has created an elaborate illusion to convince Microsoft to increase its bid.
We may find out soon whether AOL is really an alternative to Microsoft for Yahoo, and salvation for Time Warner, and whether Rupert Murdoch wants to get in bed with Microsoft. What we know, at this point, is that Jerry Yang is not saying, "Alas, poor Yorick."
The echo chamber of the blogosphere is concerned about too much refactored content and a lack of original thought in the raging river of blog posts flowing into feed readers and Web crawlers (see Techmeme). There are many worse problems in the world than what is sometimes unpleasantly called blogorrhea. You could be a blogger in China dancing around government censorship.
Internet and Web 2.0 technologies have allowed anyone to be a writer, publisher, and pundit just by clicking the publish button. Along with the flood of interesting and insightful content comes the boring and feckless.
(Credit:
Matthew Hurst)
It's up to individuals and algorithms to sort out the more useful, value-added content. Hopefully, it floats to the top. You can complain about me-too, derivative content without much value add, but we aren't going to have a priesthood that decides who is allowed to publish. blogorrhea in a democracy is incurable. We should continue to celebrate the blog revolution and vote with our gestures of attention.
Covering the technology industry is similar to covering sports or other topics that have a passionate core of fans. There are teams (companies), players (personalities), games (competing products and services). Tech information moves at fairly high velocity. Blogs that can deliver the play by play and color commentary with accuracy, authority, and speed will be valued by fans. That's what we try to do every day at CNET News.com.
The debate over whether a blogger is a journalist is a dead end. The basic principles of journalism--like fact checking--should be a benchmark for both blogs and so-called mainstream media. Many of the popular technology blogs are staffed by experienced journalists. Many bloggers without formal journalism training have earned their stripes, although some play too loose and fast and don't add enough to move the conversation forward.
Moving the conversation forward is what the blogosphere does best. It starts with an original thought or angle, a scoop of perception, and others add their own perspectives and discoveries to the data pool. You end up with a rich "web" of information and links about a particular item.
Dealing with the blogorrhea factor--the overflow of rather useless contributions to the data pool--is problematic, but don't blame Techmeme or your feed reader. In an ideal world, the crap sinks to the bottom of the pool.
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