So it's not SXSW, but...
If you hadn't heard, Madison is totally like Austin. And while music bloggers may moan that Madison's lacking in barbecue and multimedia festivals, we often* share some fine alt-weekly film criticism, as...
Austin Chronicle Senior Editor and lead film critic, Marjorie Baumgarten has reviewed
Evening--7/5/07, @ TDP
- @Austin Chronicle, 6/29/07
- @ Austin Chronicle, 6/29/07
- full review @ Austin Chronicle, 3/2/07
- @ Austin Chronicle, 6/1/01
- full Army of Shadows review @ Austin Chronicle, 11/10/06
- full Pan's Labyrinth review @ Austin Chronicle, 1/12/07
- @ Austin Chronicle, 12/15/06
- @ Austin Chronicle, 12/22/06
- full review @ Austin Chronicle, 4/7/06
- @ Austin Chronicle, 8/11/06
Bonus: (freelancer?) Josh Rosenblatt
License to Wed--7/5/07, @ TDP
- @ Austin Chronicle, 7/6/07
- @ Austin Chronicle, 11/3/06
- @ Austin Chronicle, 10/06/06
- @ Austin Chronicle, 9/29/06
10 comments:
OMG!!!!!!!
I'm assuming Isthmus PAYS for this content that they post on their website. Unlike Post.
It runs in the print edition of Isthmus too--which is where I first noticed it--so that angle doesn't completely work, since Post's print edition is what pays.
If what you're saying comes from the "Post steals content by excerpting" school of thought--I won't argue with that, but merely point out that there's still at least some link or reference to the original source. The Chronicle stuff is avilable on an alt-weekly wire service--and that Chronicle and wire service aren't referenced at all.
I frankly wish this hadn't been linked to from Post, because it wasn't in defense of Capital Newspapers/madison.com--I've mocked the profusion of wire copy on madison.com before and was pointing out that such things happen all over the place, on different scales.
but i'm also not so naive as to be upset/surprised when outPost links here because it serves their "agenda" or the daily page links here, possibly because I've posted something that tweaks Cap Newspapers:
http://www.thedailypage.com/daily/miscellany.php?misc_ID=7622
The fact that we run some syndicated copy is of course no secret. Other syndicated content we run includes columns (The Straight Dope), cartoons (Tom Tomorrow, Emily Flake), additional things. Likewise, other alt-weeklies pick up copy by Isthmus writers, including the Mr. Right column and Dean Robbins' TV criticism.
I think the point is lost. Honestly, it does seem like you are trying to draw a parallel between the two in your wording. If there is a flaw in Isthmus running syndicated content it is that they don't say it is syndicated content, but newspapers do this all the time - especially alt-weeklies. My hometown weekly (Hartford Advocate) used to run Savage Love and I never knew it was a syndicated column until I picked up a Village Voice. I'm just not sure this example quite nails the point you are trying to make.
I didn't think it was a big deal (hopefully whoever came through with OMG!!!! was sarcastic), or a secret--and initially just ran it as a series of links. There was only a response after I added a few baited lines at the footer. oops.
I posted because the "syndicated sourcing" of columns and cartoons that run regularly are really obvious to the average reader. Articles mildly edited into a section's usual format to fill the usual film critic's space, not so much.
While presumably the average readers also don't care much where the criticism's coming from as long as it helps them make an informed movie-going choice, given the Madisonian tendency to champion local voices above all else, I'm guessing a few people would want know where that stuff's coming from.
re: the lost point... Am going to leave off with this, however faulty the logic, and apples to oranges it was...
I was not thinking about columns like Savage Love, the Straight Dope, or Mr. Right (although thanks to KB for pointing out that Robbins' tv criticism is picked up other places--had been wondering about that, and on some hypocritical level, think that's cool)
Was thinking about "articles"--and had posted something about how the Capital Times, State Journal, etc. ran a bunch of wire copy, that in the context of madison.com, got extremely redundant. The reason I pulled apart that WSJ article: online, long-standing rewrite practices feel disingenuous when it would be very simple to link (yes away from their site) to the articles that were being mashed up.
Those pieces of criticism aren't news, nor were they mashed up or drastically rewritten, but it seemed consistent to mention their origin (again, because they weren't a column).
If there's a huge and distorting bias I should cop to here, it's as someone who subscribes to a bunch of alt-weekly A&E feeds, and would like to avoid redundancy there, or at least have a way of being reminded if what I'm about to read may have been something I already scanned last week.
I posted something similar about this on the Emcees blog a long time ago wrt to Village Voice/New Times music coverage:
http://www.madison.com/post/blogs/emcees/114445
NT/VVM was the "evil chain" I had in mind at the footer.
Actually, most of the above doesn't scan. The only salient point was the parallel to to the VVM music post. I should've linked to that. Will revisit this in a post tomorrow, really need to finish something else now.
hastings:
You got linked to from Post because it was an interesting, funny post -- not because it "served our agenda."
Anyone who has any concept of who you are and what you write about should realize (implicitly, if nothing else) that you're not "defending Capital Newspapers" (nor ever would you, most likely, for that matter).
Regarding "stealing by excerpting": I have yet to see an actual, solid defense of this point that makes any logical sense, given how Post approaches excerpts. (I am, however, still very much willing to listen.)
And for what it's worth: I didn't think any of it was a big deal, either. Of course, if you want Post to take its link down, just say the word -- you know how to reach me.
-sjb
yeah. I had a headache from some other bullshit and got carried away.
jamonme, I'm sorry we're not better acquainted. Please come to Natt Spil tonight and buy the DJ a drink.
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