Blogging

My favorite new blog is by congressman Heath Shuler. (I'll call it "ShulerBlog" here as a shorthand.) It's hosted on the Asheville Citizen-Times (AC-T) website, and is a must-visit blog for anyone who lives in Western North Carolina. ShulerBlog has the right mix of information about what he's working on for the district, and, the occasional lighthearted post, such as this one about a new staffer.

There are some things I wish I could change about ShulerBlog; for example, I don't like that comments are moderated, or that bloggers can't leave their URL - but by and large, I give Shuler's first foray into the blogoshere a solid "A".

Having said this - it appears that Shuler and the AC-T have unwittingly gotten into a relationship with an inherent conflict-of-interest. After all, as a newspaper, the primary job of the AC-T is to report the news and act as a watchdog on policy-makers.

Is it a good idea to have a congressperson produce content that is hosted on the watch-dogs web platform?

Is it ethical to sell ads next to said content?

Who owns the rights to the content? If I were to start copying a whole pages of ShulerBlog to my own site, would I get a cease-and-desist letter from the AC-T's lawyers, or Shuler's?

Does having a congressman as a major draw to a newspaper's on-line property make it more difficult for journalists to get approval for hard-hitting stories against the said congressman?

These are important questions that need to be addressed as soon as possible before problems arise.

For example: Is it unreasonable for Shuler's Republican opponent in 2008 to assert that the AC-T is not critical of the incumbent because he has a valuable blog on their property that they don't want to endanger?

I, for one, say that the above accusation would be a fair one even though I personally believe that the editors of the AC-T are ethical people who take their responsibilities as journalists seriously.

It's just that blogs are so brand-new that many people don't understand what their proper role is. Heck, I struggle with the role of blogging - and I do nothing but eat, sleep and breathe this stuff.

Blogs are not like Op-Eds that a public servant might be asked to write for the local paper about a particular issue. They are an interactive medium that requires a higher level of commitment from the newspaper and the writer. There are other important differences that beg the question: How much control does an editor have over a blogger that's not on the payroll?*

It is my opinion that Shuler should remove his blog from the AC-T platform to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest or collusion.

As a high-profile elected official, Shuler does not need the AC-T to generate traffic or get his blog's message across. Furthermore, considering how easy it is to create and maintain a blog these days, he does not need their technical support either.

While the web-advertising department at the AC-T might be chagrined at losing Shuler, their whole organization will benefit; since having him on board might damage the long-term credibility of the site.

I'm not close-minded about this issue, however. I welcome feedback from Shuler, the AC-T or anyone who disagrees with my assessment.

In this case, the counterpoint is in the commentssection of this post.

Tags: Shuler - Blog - conflict of interest - newspaper - Asheville Citizen Times - ethics - Congressman - ShulerBlog - Blog ethics

* Note: To make the point as to how different newspapers are to blogs, this sentence was added about 20 minutes after I originally posted. A newspaper editor would never allow a reporter to make this kind of edit on a blog without a disclaimer - would the editor be able to force a congressman to do the same?

BTW: Final edit for spelling and grammar: 02/15/2007 @ 13:44 EST.

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Ever heard of a place called Sutter's Mill, California?

Today, it's an old abandoned saw mill; but at one time it sparked one of the largest mass-immigrations in US history.

In 1848 gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, thus triggering the 1849 gold rush. Within twelve months over 300,000 people, so-called "49ers", raced to west to make their fortunes. It transformed California from a sleepy backwater, into the center of the world's imagination.

With this history in mind, I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that within the next 18 months - another Sutter's Mill-like event is going to happen on the blogosphere that will create a rush that has not been seen for over 157 years.

In the 19th century it was gold. In the 21st, it will be the micropayment.

A micropayment is a very small online money transfer, usually meant to be under a dollar, perhaps as low as a few cents. Currently, micropayments are not feasible for most businesses since credit-card fees eat up most of the profit when processing small transactions.

But, if such a system were possible, it would revolutionize the economics of the blogosphere. It would make supporting online artists and bloggers as painless as buying a gumball at the grocery store.

For example: Imagine if a blogger could ask readers for a .50 cent-a-month contribution. If only 1000 people donated a year, within a few years the blogger would be able to make a living completely independent of editors, a corporation or even advertisers.

Go ahead and think of the implications for a moment. Imagine it: No longer will a life dedicated to art be a luxury for the rich - a whole subculture of activists, musicians, poets and philosophers will be able to plug into a business model that can make them economically self-sustaining.

The micopayment business model has been predicted since the beginning of the World Wide Web, but so far every attempt has failed; even the well-funded BitPass project couldn't hack it after four years.

So why am I optimistic this time?

Because of two stores that came out of Davos, Switzerland at the end of January.

First, was the announcement by YouTube that they plan to start sharing revenue with users who create content. YouTube is owned by Google, so for them to make this move demonstrates that they have figured out a way to pay users small amounts of money, efficiently and economically.

I predict that Google's strategy is to use YouTube as a stealth Beta-project to experiment with a micropayment system.

The second is that Microsoft is going into micropayment business. Yes, they may be evil, but they also have the economic and global infrastructure to pull a micropayment system together.

What we are looking at is two major companies that have decided that micropayments are worthy of investment.

Once the infastructuire is in place, it's just a matter of time for the great blogosphere gold rush to start. I have to admit to being a bit nervous about the coming flood. Bloggers, by and large, are a generous lot. You have to be, since very few people can realistically make a living out here.

But a profitable blogophere may flip the blog ecosystem on its head. Not only would artists and writers start going online in a far more aggressive way, but it would open a whole new world of opportunity for every two-bit plagiarist, spammer and con-artist.

Either way, there is gold in them-thar hills. Best prepare for the prospectors, or get out your own stake while it's still relatively simple.

Read counterpoint here.

Tags: Micropayments - Blogging - YouTube - Microsoft - Gold Rush - 1849 - There is gold in them-thar hills

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