A friend spotted this on a journalism job list:
----------------------------------------------------------------------Editor to Monitor Blogs for Dow Jones Newswires.
Location: Jersey City NJ----------------------------------------------------------------------
Dow Jones Newswires is seeking an editor to join its equity markets
team and mine publishable scoops and intelligence from the world of
blogs. The successful candidate will be aggressive, self directed and
interested in blogs and their proprietors, but must also possess the
news judgment and high standards needed to separate the mean spirited
and the overly speculative from the insightful and the useful. The
editor's main responsibility will be funneling short, spirited and
well-written items into "Market Talk" - effectively Dow Jones
Newswires' running blog on corporate and market developments. There
will also be the opportunity to write about developments at prominent
blogs and trends in blogging.
"Is it just me," asks my friend, "or is Dow Jones advertising for someone whose job will be to steal blog posts?" Quick answer: yes. Only please to call it "research".
Obscure Tom Lehrer reference?
(At work, so didn't see the video)
Plagerize! Plagerize!
Let no one else's work evade your eyes!
Remember why the good Lord made your eyes!
So don't shade your eyes, but
Plagerize!
Monitor blogs and get paid for it? Sign me up!
You raise an interesting point. A while back I happened to watch the Clint Eastwood movie "Pale Rider" which many call an homage to the movie "Shane" which I watched soon after. There are many similarities between the two movies--almost too many. However, no one has ever called Clint Eastwood and the writers plagiarists. So I think something can be considered an homage when it is done well and plagiarism when it is done poorly.
I think bloggers should happy about this--it's another explicit recognition of their legitimacy by the MSM. And assuming the "Editor to Monitor Blogs" properly credits its sources, it will drive more traffic to their sites. I don't understand the complaint.
How is this any different from what Glenn Reynolds does? (Assuming this editor adds some commentary.)
It's "Fair Use" for profit.
Whet someone's appetite and give them a link. Ride the fine line between theft and free advertising... Snip just enough content and provide the source.
Add value by being an aggregator of choice... A professionally filtered RSS feed that captures the best finance posts from a broad universe of blogs.
I'd argue that few blogs find success the McAdrle way (i.e., relying on deep knowledge, first-hand research, and top-quality writing.) Many folks live and die by links.
Megan, the truth please.
Was the post an excuse to post the video?
Please, one need no "excuse" for posting a Tom Lehrer video. No matter what the topic, Tom Lehrer is ALWAYS apropos.
David
Yes, whereas this blog provides us with daily 5000 word articles based on a combination of well-timed original research and courageous on-the-ground reporting.
The difference between what Instapundit and other blogs do, and what this sounds like, is that other blogs link to their sources. If the DJ job also involves linking, that would be a blogging gig. This ad sounds like something... else.
Actually what I think this really does is further validate some blogs as legitimate sources for news and information.
Remember newswires like Dow Jones, AP and Reuters have always regularly trawled newspapers, broadast media and magazines for stories, particularly in far-flung places and for out-of-the-mainstream topics, and then either republished the stories with attribution or research their own stories based on what they find.
That they are now adding blogs to the list of sources they monitor should not be considered unusual, and it certainly isn't plagiarism.
Its just you. You can't steal something that is free.
Sk
Ron Coleman: where does it say that this job won't require the editor to cite his/her sources? It's a job with Dow Jones Newswires, not the Iraqi Information Ministry.
"You can't steal something that is free."
That's an amazingly stupid statement in the context of intellectual property. Publishers give away free copies of books to reviewers all the time. Does that mean the copyright on those books is nullified and it's legal for anyone to print and sell copies?
Perhaps you should learn something about intellectual property law before you make any more glib statements about it.
Oh, I suppose it's just kind of humorous to note that not long ago, the dinosaur media sniffed that bloggers were mere 'pajama-clad scribblers ranting away in their parents basement'. They weren't Professionals, you see, with journalism degrees and layers of editors providing the Final Word on Quality Reportage. Not so long ago the dinosaurs wouldn't have deigned to acknowledge bloggers contributions.
I guess some of the dinosaurs have heard the asteroid make impact and know that they must adapt or go extinct.
The worm turns.