The paradigm shifts we’re in the midst of—in media usage and, then, in standards of intellectual property—demand that we rethink not just what writers contribute to the media marketplace, but also how they should be compensated for their contributions. Individual blogs, and Web sites hosting large numbers of bloggers, are profiting—not just culturally and intellectually, but economically—from bloggers’ work. Organizing, in that sense, seems not only inevitable, but necessary; “professional” bloggers need to be compensated for their work. It’s only fair.
On the Job
09:00 AM - January 17, 2008
Blogonomics
Bloggers of the world, unite!
‘See you on the other side’ - Meet Jessica Lum, a terminally ill 25-year-old who chose to spend what little time she had practicing journalism
#Realtalk: This is the best moment to be in journalism - The old stuff isn’t coming back, but that’s okay
Streams of consciousness - Millennials expect a steady diet of quick-hit, social-media-mediated bits and bytes. What does that mean for journalism?
Sticking with the truth - How ‘balanced’ coverage helped sustain the bogus claim that childhood vaccines can cause autism
An ink-stained stretch - Can Aaron Kushner save the Orange County Register—and the newspaper industry?
What to do if you find a baby bird
Expert advice
Inside Google’s secret lab
We might deplore the practice, but posting pictures of our food online is a way to bring everyone to the table
How the ‘World’s 50 Best’ list changed the way elite restaurants do business
“Every time the restaurant switched up its format, it got plenty of accompanying media coverage that let judges know they needed to return to see what was going on”
CJR's Guide to Online News Startups
Uptown Messenger – Hyperlocal news for a neighborhood in New Orleans
Who Owns What
The Business of Digital Journalism
A report from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism
Questions and exercises for journalism students.
What's that old saying the Floridians have? "If you don't like the weather, just wait a few minutes." There's a similar saying in the blogosphere... or at least there could be. If you don't like the business model, just wait a few minutes.
Every so often, there are efforts by some folks to impose the old order on the new frontier. These efforts are usually fruitless. Similarly, there's outright ignorance of the new paradigm on the part of some folks, resulting in a Captain Queeg-like denial, paranoia and bumbling (UMG's Doug Morris is often cited as a prime example of the latter.)
And then, there's proposals like this one. As someone who has published an online magazine for nearly nine years (and who went "blogward" about halfway through that period), I see talk of a union for bloggers as either a failure to grasp particulars of the situation we find ourselves in or a failure to appreciate the uniqueness of the situation.
The model for our "blogazine" (TM), at least in its early years, would not have been possible if there were a union of the type described above.
Do we really want a world(wideweb) in which people are called "scabs" (or worse), because they choose a particular path that is at odds with some organization's "bylaws" or "regulations?"
Posted by Brian McKim
on Sat 19 Jan 2008 at 11:40 AM
um complaining about the internet getting more commercial that sounds perilously like the utopian whining of the nuttier end of the open source movement. Murdoc bought myspace get over it.
Pretending that the internet is completely different to the real world is just not seeing the point Bloggers who work for a company are a different kettle of fish to hobbyist octu who blog about princess Lias gold bikini.
Not sure Guild gives the right impression bit to old skool craft unionisiam that really doesn’t fit with the internet of course I’me biased being a M&P Activist.
But I Blog as part of my job and am a member of a union and a lot of the people who worked for PRESTEL and MICRONET where unionised over 20 years ago and a teletext page has similarities to a blog page.
Posted by Peppone
on Sat 19 Jan 2008 at 06:22 PM
I love good satire.
Very clever. Funny.
I especially like the part where the A list blogs share proceeds with writers. ROTFL
And... the part about a threshold established between amateurs and pros... OMG, hilarity.
I earn $300 a month from blogs. Am I a professional? HAR. I use my blog to release my inner smart ass.
Like Groucho said: I wouldn't belong to any club that would have me as a member.
Jaysus, you crack me up, dude.
Posted by GoingLikeSixty
on Sat 19 Jan 2008 at 07:19 PM
The problem with unions in general is that they tend to exclude those who do not wish to be a member, thus representing an unfair shutout to those who would not wish to participate in the unionism. It is anti-freedom and therefore I stand firmly against unions.
Posted by flajann
on Sun 20 Jan 2008 at 09:39 AM
You're absolutely right in implying that, for most of us, blogging is a hobby, not a profession. Other hobbyists don't get paid for their hobbies, by and large; why should we? This is ultimately why any proposed guild for bloggers is doomed to fail. There are just too many amateurs for the word "blogger" to have any meaning besides "writer who uses certain tools to post content to the internet."
Over on ComicMix, where I also blog, long-time comic book writer Denny O'Neil is doing a series of columns about why comic book writers and artists don't have any sort of guild to protect their interests. The answer is much the same; there's too much content coming out from talented amateurs who have no interest in making a living doing comics; the line between pro and amateur is so blurry, it would be a nightmare to even begin to administer any sort of union.
Posted by Elayne Riggs
on Sun 20 Jan 2008 at 10:59 AM
Old order on a new frontier? Which old order did you have in mind, the rule of law or survival of the fittest?
when you've finished with the union bashing and the pandering to the 'true amateurs', you might consider the article's point that some people are making money--often large sums--off the work of others.
But perhaps you don't feel those who create valuable works deserve anything more than an inner glow at benefiting others so richly?
Posted by digbonian
on Sun 20 Jan 2008 at 05:14 PM
"A bloggers guild could also, of course, work to protect bloggers’ intellectual property and help ensure they’re compensated for it."
Good idea. Let's call it the BIAA (Blogging Industry Association of America).
Posted by RogerL
on Sun 20 Jan 2008 at 07:10 PM
How about P.U.B.?
Publishers Union of Bloggers.
Posted by Barney on Tue 26 Jan 2010 at 01:53 AM