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AP's Olympic Copy Policy: What do you think?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by daveevansedge, Feb 14, 2010.

  1. daveevansedge

    daveevansedge Member

    They have a lengthy daily Olympic digest of stories, but thus far, the overwhelming majority of that copy is listed under a "premium" tier heading and is not allowed to be used unless papers put up an additional fee. And we're not just talking features here.

    For Sunday papers, the only stories that could be used if you didn't buy the whole package were: the Ohno speedskating gamer; the luge folo; and the roundup.

    So, the story on the first American to win a gold medal at these Games -- Hannah Kearney in the women's moguls -- was on the premium portion of the digest. It's freakin' breaking news, it's the first U.S. gold, and the story is on a premium tier. The roundup had just two sentences on the event. Pretty weak.

    Also on the premium plan: the breaking news on the horde of protesters that raised hell in Vancouver on Saturday, smashing a bunch of windows at a major department store, leading to a pile of arrests, etc. But you can't use the full story, because it's on the premium tier.

    Features, takeouts, etc., I can understand charging extra for -- AP has to make ends meet, too. But breaking news, particularly for events that net any sort of medal haul for the U.S., should be fair game for all.
     
  2. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    This is nothing new, they had a premium service in Beijing too. Still, seems like they did run a roundup and separates on some of the bigger events (swimming, track, basketball).
     
  3. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Have they always done premiums or is this a new development since papers have cut back?
     
  4. daveevansedge

    daveevansedge Member

    Yes, they did this for Beijing, but not nearly to this extent. I think they just need to loosen it up a little bit, with regard to newsworthy events.
     
  5. fishhack2009

    fishhack2009 Active Member

    What are us good folks on AP Exchange going to get?
     
  6. daveevansedge

    daveevansedge Member

    AP is putting everything on the wire, from what I can tell, so I assume everything is on AP Exchange, too. But only three items on each of the past two days' digests (yesterday's and today's) were available for use without paying an additional fee. Everything below those three items on the digest is listed as being "premier" tier and requires paying a fee to have permission to use.

    So for Monday editions, the "free" portion included two stories on luge, and a roundup. That's it.
     
  7. fishhack2009

    fishhack2009 Active Member

    The roundup is probably about all we'd have space for anyway, since we're in the heart of NASCAR country and the season just started again. We'll probably be good with that and a photo, which we'll have to get from MCT.
     
  8. Hank_Scorpio

    Hank_Scorpio Active Member

    How likely would they be to catch someone using a "premier" story without permission?
     
  9. GB-Hack

    GB-Hack Active Member

    Would it neccesarily appear on that paper's wire without them having paid the fee upfront?
     
  10. HanSenSE

    HanSenSE Well-Known Member

    We're not exactly a winter sports mecca to I wasn't planning on using much more than the daily roundup and photos anyway. But if it looks like something big happens that I can't get from AP, I know I can fall back on our supplemental wire.
     
  11. BillyT

    BillyT Active Member

    I am surprised to see peoplesaying they are not using much on the Olympics.

    Yes, I live 90 minutes from Lake Placid now, so the area is crazy for it, but even when I lived on the New England coast I read as much as I possibly could about it.

    What is the word on TV ratings? Any idea?

    (And, yes, I understand that in some places Daytona's gonna be more important than anything else)
     
  12. MileHigh

    MileHigh Moderator Staff Member

    Opening ceremonies drew a good rating.

    I found this perspective about the Winter Olympics pretty good. (Disclaimer: He's a former boss, but he knows his stuff.)

    http://www.oberjuerge.com/http:/www.oberjuerge.com/they-put-on-the-winter-olympics-without-me/
     
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