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Deadline |
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November 2001
Editorial Last week the Prime Minister urged the British people not to forget the horrors of September 11. A reasonable plea, although it is doubtful whether anyone could erase those dreadful images in a hurry Many of us would have seen the horror unfold on television at work and initial feelings of disbelief and shock were soon overtaken by the frantic effort of helping to get papers out and news bulletins on air. Without wishing to deflect from the tragedy though, this was exactly the kind of story that many in the media thrive on. As Roger Alton, editor of the Observer, said in a recent interview about coverage of the war on terrorism, "Journalists love wars, they absolutely love them". On the day of the attack newsdesks went into overdrive; there were extra news pages to fill, columnists and experts were given free reign to speculate on everything from biological warfare to Bin Laden's wives while graphics departments had a field day. With the attacks on Afghanistan and the latest anthrax scares the momentum has continued. And, of course, playing an integral part of the information gathering process were media librarians. In this issue of Deadline, we were planning to do a round-up of how media librarians around the world dealt with recent events. However, the people we approached in North America suggested it was too early to start commenting and most of the British librarians said they were too busy. The responses we did receive though, including a report from Pakistan, do give an idea of what happened on that fateful day. It is worth adding that from anecdotal evidence, one source that has proved to be invaluable is NewsLib, the American mailing list. From requests for a WTC floor plan to the whereabouts of al-Quaida training camps,the chances were that somebody would be able to help. On a lighter note, veteran royal correspondent Charles Rae answers the My internet questionnaire, Ian Watson explains the New York Times v Tasini case, while our colleagues at the Melbourne Age give a flavour of a day in the life of an Australian newspaper library. Also Andy Murdoch casts his eye over the lost corners of the internet and Indranee de Silva lets us know what life is like as an ex-librarian. Finally Annabel Colley recounts her visit to the Special Librarians Association (SLA) conference in San Antonio, earlier this year. Deadline is produced by Richard Nelsson, Andy Murdoch and Jackie Drennan. Please send news, reviews and letters to: richard.nelsson@guardian.co.uk or deadline@aukml.org.uk The opinions expressed in Deadline are not necessarily those of the AUKML. New York Times vs Tasini Ian Watson The notion that newspaper web sites and public online archives can be seen as extensions of the printed newspaper has been firmly rejected by a decision of the US Supreme Court. In 1993 freelance writer Jonathan Tasini and others, backed by the National Writers Union, began a legal action against the New York Times claiming that the publisher did not have the right to put material that had been written for print onto electronic media without permission. In their submission to a New York District Court (http://www.nwu.org/tvt/tvtcomp1.htm) they argued 'under recognized principles of copyright law, it is indisputably clear that freelance authors own the electronic rights in their own work unless they have expressly transferred or assigned those rights in accordance with the Copyright Act'. The publishers' defence was based on the argument that the files held by the likes of Lexis Nexis were anthologies of the published newspaper and such use was allowed. On 25 June this year the US Supreme Court finally ruled 7-2 in favour of the freelancers, rejecting the notion that databases are collective works for copyright purposes. In the Court's opinion, by considering the electronic version of their publications to be simply another edition of the printed work, publishers had infringed the rights of the freelancers. The articles had been disaggregated from the original publication arrangement and this action could not be seen as an allowable extension of the publishers' initial rights. The decision is likely to have repercussions throughout the world. In the UK the NUJ has hailed the decision as an important breakthrough which should pave the way for 'tens of thousands of journalists, or 'intellectual property creators' getting a fair reward for their work'(Journalist, July-August 2001) In the aftermath of the decision the US News Librarians' list server was red hot with comment and debate ranging from the practicalities and ethics of purging their public archives to the question of whether this action was in fact in the best interests of the freelancers. Some questioned the rush by the publishers and the online hosts to remove freelance material from the public online archives, arguing they were destroying the historic record. Others highlighted the practical difficulty of separating the 'legal' from the 'illegal' material as the terms under which certain contributors were hired were often lost in history. Not all freelance material has to be removed, however, as some newspapers do have agreements with freelancers that allow re-publishing. Yet another strand tackled the vexed question of whether the decision would in practice improve the lot of the freelance writer. Will the powerful news media companies simply make extended rights a contractual requirement? According to Lytton Smith, Chief Librarian at Seattle Post- Intelligencer, the freelancers have cut off their noses to spite their faces and newspapers managers are doing the same to the online databases because of fear of litigation. The losers will be library users who don't care about Tasini and just want to search newspaper content. Eric Alterman, a freelance writer,was one who thought the decision would not do much to improve the lot of 'the worst compensated and most exploited workers in the entire media industry.' (http://stacks.msnbc.com/news/592179.asp). While the principle may be large, he argued, the pay-off would not be as the sums of money involved are likely to be small. Further, he was concerned that his personal 'brand recognition' depended on his work being available online for other to cite Librarian and freelance writer Jack Styczynski of NBC is another who did not like the decision. Having agreed a fee based on word count and/or time rather than circulation he doesn't mind the publishers doing whatever they like with his work. If they start making more than he originally expected (because of electronic distribution or any other reason), then he could always negotiate more the next time. The ability to negotiate more money of course depends on the strength of your bargaining position. Shirl Kennedy, Web Guide Topic Manager for eCompany Now http://www.ecompany.com has no truck with the notion that the freelance should be grateful for the exposure afforded her work by its inclusion in an online archive. 'I've been a freelance writer a lot longer than I've been a) a librarian, and b) a computer nerd. Granted, I'm not Salman Rushdie or Stephen King or John Updike or anyone else who is in a position to go tell a publisher to take a flying leap if I object to the fact that I'm inevitably forced to give up my electronic rights when I write for a particular publication'. Exposure, she concedes, is helpful, but she can't afford to give away her work for free. In addition she thinks to be asked to do so is professionally insulting. Richard Geiger, Research Director at the San Francisco Examiner, was not impressed by the rhetoric that publishers had been ripping off the freelancers. Taking account of the cost of creating the database in comparison to the amount of royalties generated, there was not a great deal of money involved. Geiger observes that it was the arrival of the web that really triggered the interest, yet nobody has made real money on websites: 'I find it odd that a freelancer accepts his or her fee for a story in the Chronicle with a possible million readers that day and then gets all uptight about a few hundred or thousand possible readers seeing it on a website.' All of this does not matter much according to Michael Jesse, Library Director at The Indianapolis Star. Even if most freelancers don't mind, and may even prefer, their stories being included in newspaper databases, and even if their stories are not going to be heavily used, none of that will matter if one freelancer files a suit. The financial penalty could be much greater than just paying them for their rights in the first place. Taking the debate to another level Tom Johnson of the Institute for Analytic Journalism at Boston University argues that a newspaper is just a daily manifestation of a portable database. A good database lets individual users slice and dice the contents and retrieve those contents in whatever way works best for them. Purging that database for what are perceived to be only in a publication? short-term legal or financial interests makes journalism increasingly irrelevant to the general public. His concern is not about the time and costs of purging, or even the loss of the historical record. It is that the newspaper industry still can't see beyond the concept of 'today's artifact' be it an individual story, which has various rights of ownership or the physical newspaper. If journalism has a future, he argues, then the publishers should take the opportunity presented by the Tasini case to explore all the possible ways to facilitate the exploitation of everything now printed in a newspaper. He concludes that if newspaper publishers and editors had followed and studied the digital revolution of the last 20 years, or if they had even started on the problem when Tasini was filed, they might now have a better understanding of how to leverage tools like metadata and XML, the building blocks of a better, more far-sighted journalism and e-news content business. The Newslib discussion was, as ever, informed and very interesting. Long term preservation of the historic record is an important concern, especially to members of AUKML, but is separate from the freelancers?argument about payment. Tasini means that what you find on, say, Lexis-Nexis will probably become even more divergent from what appeared in the original newspaper. Tom Johnson is probably right. The newspaper business is about repurposing information derived from many sources. That information is someone's property and the terms under which it can be used can be defined and determined by a contract. Publishers and writers are in a symbiotic relationship. Each needs the other and, like it or not, the terms of the relationship will be determined in the marketplace by relative bargaining power Full transcript of the Tasini ruling
To subscribe to NewsLib: Ian Watson, Head of Rights and Information at SMG Newspapers and Chairman of AUKML, writes in a personal capacity.
September 11: Three accounts from the newsroom
Pakistan Press International (PPI), Karachi, Pakistan However my newsman's instinct soon took control. I immediately called my office to check up if they knew what was happening in New York. Luckily they had already been alerted, and had opened the CNN. While those present watched in disbelief, and horror, the News Editor had already sent some news flashes, short sentences, summing up the horrendous terrorist attack on the USA - in New York and the Pentagon. After that all our offices in Pakistan were swarmed with official and public reactions to the event. The terrorist attack was of course of great interest, importance and relevance for Pakistan because Afghanistan and Usama Bin Ladin were Pakistan's next door neighbours. Soon our offices all over Pakistan were flooded with phone calls and faxed messages, making enquiries, giving reactions; secular and religious elements coming out with contrasting reactions, some in outright condemnation of the terrorist attack expressing horror over loss of such a huge number of civilian lives, others blaming the event on a Zionist conspiracy to malign Islam. Next day, the newspapers were ablaze with banner headlines, telling only one story, about history's most devastating terrorist attack. And in homes, offices, schools, and shopping areas, there was only one subject under discussion.
The Liverpool Echo The first PA snap comes through at just before two o'clock and as the TV coverage unfolds people gather around the bank of TVs in the picture desk, just like men outside Dixons' window, dragged shopping on Cup Final day. Rumour and speculation, the lubricants of any newspaper office...'one of those New York sightseeing helicopters has hit a skyscraper, a light plane off course, bad weather, anti-globalisation protesters, pilot gone mad, a totally freak accident, a hijack gone wrong'.
Eighteen minutes after the first impact.
The second plane hits.
'The Pentagon has been hit' The last edition of the Echo runs and all we can contribute to the next day's Daily Post is done. Time to go home and watch the horror unfold again and again until the images are burned on the brain. George and Tony invite us all to take a fireside seat for the War on Terrorism Show. The tabloids' graphics departments go into overdrive. Order a pizza, grab a beer and fasten your seatbelts.
Colin Hunt is Chief Librarian at the Liverpool Echo.
Globe and Mail (Toronto, Canada) My boss was trying to field a number of questions when my fellow researcher and I arrived. A detailed description of the World Trade Center was required; a list of the tenants; descriptions of the planes that crashed. Then suddenly, all went quiet. There was a feeling of barely controlled chaos in the newsroom. Four reporters left immediately for New York by car with no assurance of getting through the border (they did get through). Large buildings were being evacuated in downtown Toronto as a precaution. No one knew how widespread this was. We monitored events by periodically checking the CBC and CNN coverage that was being broadcast just outside the library in the newsroom and we tried to anticipate the sorts of questions that might arise. It was all so mindboggling that we really weren't sure what to tackle first. By mid-afternoon, the editors were beginning to get organized and assignments were being handed out. We started to try to get any background information that we could on the passengers in the planes. One of us stayed to help our night student who generally works alone until 9:30pm but all in all, Tuesday the 11th was a comparatively easy day compared to the days of frenzied work that followed. The pace has let up somewhat but we are still scrambling to organize all the information that we unearthed in the first two weeks of the crisis. We are all rather pooped to say the least. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/
Lost Corners of the Internet In this issue I'm writing an abridged non-academic column, mainly because I am about to head off on a holiday, and when I dream of Barcelona, I find it increasingly difficult to concentrate on LIS journal articles. Life is full of funny quandaries like that. When I was in the British library the other day I spent about ten minutes in the reading room trying to read the Journal of Information Science and an hour and a half in the cafe people watching, wondering where they were from and what they were researching based upon their accents, clothing and facial tics. So, in an effort to salute the pedants, obsessives and geeks of the world, I am dedicating this column to exposing the net hinterland of internet weblogs that feature offbeat news sources or new approaches to the news.
FARK
ROMENSKO'S OBSCURE STORE AND READING ROOM
LIBRARIAN.net
THE STREET LIBRARIAN
USELESS KNOWLEDGE
NUNTII LANTINI The practical part of this column
OK it may not sound useful but just wait until it's 2pm and you can't
get hold of that mortician you need and a journalist is breathing
down your neck. Don't worry, someone named Mona has worked out the
best time to call different places and professionals and she knows
morticians need to be called by 11am at the latest.
RESEARCH BUZZ
WHO OWNS WHO
BOB BAKER'S NEWSTHINKING
And finally, no matter how pretentious my opinions may be on what
constitutes good journalism, (I do work for The Guardian after all),
I can't resist the daily lure of Ananova's Quirkies pages. Where
does that Ananova find these crazy stories? Annabel Colley, European special librarian of the year reports from the SLA conference in San Antonio, USA. As the European Special Librarian of the Year I was fortunate to travel to San Antonio Texas to attend the SLA conference where I was to collect my award sponsored by Factiva. I travelled out in June and spent the first couple of days acclimatising to the heat and taking in the sights of San Antonio.
Texas - larger than life
A welcome from two presidents
Cementing virtual friendships
Mercury hits 105 degrees as ESLY is presented.
Focus on world Press freedom
New roles for news librarians in asset management Media asset management is presenting librarians with new opportunities and this is something I talked about in my own presentation on changing roles for librarians. Asset management, message board moderation, metadata and search engine development is creating a number of new jobs for librarians. My own session on the Tuesday afternoon was well received. The subject was the changing roles of librarians with tips on how I had carved out new opportunities. I explained with the aid of BBC videos how I had moved within the BBC from being a librarian to investigative researcher to web producer for the BBC.
This is an edited version of an article that originally appeared
in the SLA European chapter news letter. Annabel Colley was AUKML Chair, 1999-2001
Meeting review Following the terror in New York, the global political and economic environment has changed dramatically. What the long-term implications of this 'new world disorder' for the world might be, was the subject of the keynote speech at the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) London Open House. Hania Farhan, the EIU's Director Middle East & North Africa looked at how the attacks will affect the global outlook and risk profiles as well as the implication for political stability in the Middle East. Also speaking was Paul Pedley, Head of Research, EIU who gave his excellent 'The invisible web' talk (see Deadline vol 16,no2) while Andrew Palmer, Director of Data Services provided a concise, yet useful round up of An information manager's guide to economic terms. Obviously the point of the open house was to advertise the EIU's services and in particular The New World Disorder, an in-depth report into how the world is struggling to adjust to a new reality. Nevertheless, it was a useful and informative session. A sample of the report including the key findings can be found at: http://www.eiu.com/
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