Baltimore City Paper home page.

LOG IN | Not a user? Create Account

The News Hole

Examiner Bloggers Exposed . . . in Lieu of Pay

Email this Story Print-ready version leave a comment

By Chris Landers | Posted 5/28/2008

About a month ago, I posted something about the fact that The Sun and The Examiner are in danger of using up all the internets with an explosion of Baltimore blogs. It's easy to see why they're doing it from a business point of view--it's a heck of a lot cheaper than paying a bunch of nosy reporters to leave the office and get all up in the city's business.

At least The Sun pays its bloggers. Alert City Paper reader Scrapple (thanks, Scrapple!) noticed the Examiner's terms of service on its web site, which seems to give an awful lot of rules and regs, but not a lot of reward.

From the contract:

"You hereby grant to Examiner.com a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide license to:

i) copy, reproduce, distribute, perform, modify, adapt, create derivative works, use, transmit, and display the Works or any part thereof, in any in any manner, media or format now existing or hereafter devised, whether fixed or interactive, including without limitation in print, audio, on the Internet, via wireless network, in databases and compilations, via MP3 players and other devices capable of playing audio content, via cell phones and PDAs, in CD-ROMs and DVDs, and in the websites and print newspapers of Examiner.com and Affiliates;

ii) use, copy, transmit, display and otherwise promote your name, image, likeness, and biographic information in connection with the exercise of the rights granted herein, including without limitation in connection with the advertising, promotion, and publication of the Works in any manner, media or format now existing or hereafter devised; and

iii) sublicense, syndicate, or otherwise grant third parties any of the rights described in this subsection 7(b), without any obligation of notice or compensation to you."

Well, there's nothing about a soul in there. But hey, at least they give you something, right?

"Consideration: In consideration of the Services, you will be provided exposure of your name and the Web Page. You understand that you will not initially receive any other compensation for performance of the Services. However, if the Web Page obtains traffic levels and/or other performance metrics determined by Examiner.com from time to time, you may be eligible for a performance-based incentive ("Incentive"), which would be paid according to a formula and metrics to be provided to you by Examiner.com, as modified by Examiner.com from time to time in its sole discretion."

For the record, City Paper pays its freelance bloggers, although staff writers, like yours truly, don't see a thin dime ("incentive") for their tireless web-based efforts.

Email Chris Landers

Read more

The News Hole archives

More Media Stories

Bmore Publisher Pitched Proposal for Taxpayer Funding (1/19/2010)

Online Pub Bmore Appears on Board of Estimates Agenda (1/13/2010)

Journalism Study Focuses on Baltimore (1/11/2010)

More from Chris Landers

Radio Remington (11/11/2009)
A community-art project helps kids tell the story of their neighborhood

What's the 311? (10/21/2009)

What's the 311? (10/14/2009)

Related by keywords

Bmore Publisher Pitched Proposal for Taxpayer Funding in The News Hole 1/19/2010

Online Pub Bmore Appears on Board of Estimates Agenda in The News Hole 1/13/2010

Journalism Study Focuses on Baltimore in The News Hole 1/11/2010

Federal On-Line Gambling Investigation in Maryland Seizes E-Mails of Payment-Processor Electracash in The News Hole 10/22/2009

The Baltimore Guide Has a New Owner in The News Hole 6/3/2009

Kerry Says Newspapers "Endangered" in The News Hole 5/6/2009

The Un-Examiner-ed Life (Part II) in The News Hole 2/24/2009

The Un-Examiner-ed Life in The News Hole 2/20/2009

From the BBJ: Sun to stop weekday delivery to some counties in The News Hole 1/30/2009

Final Examiner : Examiner reporters Stephen Janis and Luke Broadwater Talk About the Paper's Imminent Closure 1/29/2009

Tags: Media

Leave a comment

Comment on this article

If you are a Citypaper.com member, please enter your username and password.
If you don't want to join our site right now, click the GUESTS tab.

User:

Password:

 

Don't have an account? Sign up now.
Already have an account? Log in now.

Choose a display name

Your email address:

 

Events

Restaurants

Bars+Clubs

Local Music

GET CONNECTED WITH A NEW CAREER: All-State Career

MAC: Want a recession-proof career?

TESST COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY: Train for a career!

PHARMACY TECHNICIAN: All-State Career

View all TOP JOB ads

FELLS POINT: APT. 4 RENT

CHARLES VILLAGE-21218 : The Baltimorean Apartments

View all TOP RENTAL ads

> PLACE CLASSIFIED AD

 

 

Privacy Statement