Scan-N-Land

Should newspapers embargo content from the Web?

Peter Scheer of the California First Amendment Coalition thinks so.

In an editorial for the San Francisco Chronicle, Scheer says the business model newspapers are currently using online (giving away content for free, selling ads that target people who like free content) isn't working.

In order to give the news its "true value," he argues that newspapers and wire services should figure out a way to deprive the Web of "free, trustworthy news in real-time." Sites like Yahoo and Google would have to rely on dubiously accurate content from bloggers.

Scheer's idea goes against the grain. Before Knight Ridder went belly-up, it ordered its newspapers to update their Web sites more often with fresh content. Newspapers that contribute to my wire service often post stories on their Web sites before they send them to us - they view that, rightly, as a service to their readers.

For breaking news, the Web is a great tool. But I deal mostly with embargoed stories, some of which are exclusives that have been in the works for months.

The fear of being scooped on your own story isn't new for papers that contribute to wire services. Until a couple of years ago, the biggest concern I dealt with would be a Daily Telegraph story appearing in the Kalamazoo Times a day before it appears in the Daily Telegraph. While that's never a good thing, the stakes are higher now - a story I send on the wire could pop up on Google News or Yahoo within minutes.

A big part of my job is trying to get projects and investigations editors at contributing newspapers to tell me what they're working on and send me their stories well in advance of publication. When exclusives and embargoed stories that I move on the wire appear on Web sites before they're published in print, I get angry calls.

But those angry editors don't stop sending stories to the wire because, not surprisingly, they want people to read their work. Some of them would just like a little more control over the how and when.

Scheer is right when he says newspapers need to figure out a better way to make money on the Internet. And, for the sake of competition, figuring out a way to temporarily block certain stories from appearing on the Web would be great.

I don't have any answers, but I do know that one industry controlling the free flow of information is a dangerous proposition.

-Janey Adams

posted by Mark H. @ 11/13/2006 06:04:00 PM