The Associated Press plan with its Web content stretches significantly into new territory and is required reading for anyone interested in the direction of digital media.
It redefines the news service and the terms by which it and its membership gather and distribute content. For instance, it holds back some content to permit members only to link to its central site --- essentially taking it out of syndication.
It partitions its content according to the "utility" or "unique" features it provides --- that is, information readily available from others has a commodity quality and utility function, while the unique material (value-added graphics, for instance) would only be linked from a member site to AP.
It would also use a technical tracker of content across the Internet to monitor usage --- and seek compensation, presumably. The technology is under development.
And it will attempt to garner massive search engine-driven traffic with its centrally located unique content, in that its member organizations will link to one place and not disperse the content's search-engine appeal across hundreds of sites.
The document asserts that the aim is to preserve quality journalism (presumably by keeping the monetization inside AP) and prevent unlicensed use of its content (presumably by keeping the monetization away from others).
The document outlining the policies, attached through the Nieman Journalism Lab and in the Scribd format below, was distributed in recent weeks to AP's board and executives.
It redefines the news service and the terms by which it and its membership gather and distribute content. For instance, it holds back some content to permit members only to link to its central site --- essentially taking it out of syndication.
It partitions its content according to the "utility" or "unique" features it provides --- that is, information readily available from others has a commodity quality and utility function, while the unique material (value-added graphics, for instance) would only be linked from a member site to AP.
It would also use a technical tracker of content across the Internet to monitor usage --- and seek compensation, presumably. The technology is under development.
And it will attempt to garner massive search engine-driven traffic with its centrally located unique content, in that its member organizations will link to one place and not disperse the content's search-engine appeal across hundreds of sites.
The document asserts that the aim is to preserve quality journalism (presumably by keeping the monetization inside AP) and prevent unlicensed use of its content (presumably by keeping the monetization away from others).
The document outlining the policies, attached through the Nieman Journalism Lab and in the Scribd format below, was distributed in recent weeks to AP's board and executives.
