The New York Times reports that bloggers like having their work printed in BostonNOW, that city's new free daily, because it helps them reach more people and they retain the copyright to their work. But the downside is that bloggers often don't operate by the same ethical standards as newspaper employees. For instance, they take free tickets and other gifts from sources, which is a no-no in most newsrooms. "If all that happens is every review is a puff piece, then we know something's wrong with the system," said David Weinberger, author of the book "Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder." "But if they're interesting dissections by people quite knowledgeable about the subject matter — bloggers covering the Boston Ballet who like the Boston Ballet and say so — then that wouldn't be so bad." BostonNow, funded by the Icelandic phone company Dagsbrun, is that city's second free daily, opening its doors two weeks ago.
Monday, May 07, 2007
Will blog items help new daily? Jury's out
The New York Times reports that bloggers like having their work printed in BostonNOW, that city's new free daily, because it helps them reach more people and they retain the copyright to their work. But the downside is that bloggers often don't operate by the same ethical standards as newspaper employees. For instance, they take free tickets and other gifts from sources, which is a no-no in most newsrooms. "If all that happens is every review is a puff piece, then we know something's wrong with the system," said David Weinberger, author of the book "Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder." "But if they're interesting dissections by people quite knowledgeable about the subject matter — bloggers covering the Boston Ballet who like the Boston Ballet and say so — then that wouldn't be so bad." BostonNow, funded by the Icelandic phone company Dagsbrun, is that city's second free daily, opening its doors two weeks ago.
