Standard Etiquette for Sharing Content

Last night on #editorchat (via Twitter) we discussed content sharing. Of course the discussion was particularly relevant this week after the Washington Post/Gawker debacle. Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, I think most journalists in the industry would agree there needs to be some kind of standard for content sharing.

But setting down a list of rules that must be followed is not likely to be productive. Bloggers, who usually pride themselves in there ability to write without the confines of an editor screening their work, aren’t likely to follow some established rule book.

I suggest instead standards of etiquette. And just like some people don’t feel the need to use a napkin or refuse to rip their role into smaller bit-sized pieces, not everyone will follow these standards, but is most writers and editors did the situation would be much improved.

The standards of etiquette:

• Any content taken from another source must be attributed to that source. (even if its only a paragraph or minor fact.)

• If the entire story is basically a re-write of another person’s work that needs to be indicated up front. The last sentence in the first paragraph is the perfect place to insert the publication or author’s name.

• While it is ideal to list both the original writer’s name as well as the publication, that isn’t likely to happen. For newspapers the publication should be listed, for blogs the author should be indicated (unless it is a widely known blog).

• Somewhere in the article should be a link to the original article and it should not be hidden away in a smaller font after the last paragraph.

• For non-media companies utilizing an article in a report or internal company note, the media source needs to be contacted and permission must be granted to distribute the article.

• The publication taking someone else’s article needs to do its own fact checking on the article, realizing that no one is infallible and therefore a certain amount of research needs to be put into a piece, even if it just a quick rewrite.
  

[I had something like this happen just a few weeks ago. Thanks to an editing error, my first paragraph contained confusing information about the location of the property. Another publication picked up the article, rewrote it and then contacted me to find out what the actual location was. A simple google search or call to the company would have clarified but the writer ignored those normal paths and sent me several e-mails to make sure everything was clarified.]

• It is irresponsible to use the phrase ‘according to reports’ unless in fact several publications have reported on this topic. Otherwise if one publication breaks news that pub needs to be referenced and the story linked to; this is the case even after several publication have rewritten that first pubs report.

• Any publication that picks up full articles from another publication and runs it without a rewrite should indicate both the name of the original publication as well as the writer’s name.

• It is the editor’s role to ensure standards of content sharing etiquette are adhered to. These should be clearly defined from the get-go.

Thoughts on this? What else should be included in this standard of etiquette?

Pay Me, Please

Honestly, pretty much all I can think about lately is the compensation I am rightfully due and not receiving from a client. This is the first time this has happened to me. Sure, in the past, I've had clients send payments a couple weeks or even up to a month late; but it was nothing a carefully placed phone call or e-mail reminder didn't fix.

This time it's different. I phone conversation and e-mail requests have done nothing to speed the large check in my direction. And while the money is important I'm more upset that this time I, as the editor, look irresponsible to all the writers I worked with on this project. (My sincerest apologies to all of the writers.)

But I don't believe in letting a single experience go by without trying to learn something from it. So here's what I've learned from this:

1. Never let two full pay periods lapse without compensation, no matter what the client asks.
   
2. Acquaint yourself with a good lawyer. (Even if all they need to do is craft a well-written, legal-sounding letter telling the client to pay up.)
3. Introduce yourself to other writers/editors that work for the company. Find out if they have any concerns.
   
4. Do your research - if the company has a lot of failed/folded sites or mags maybe that's a clue.
   
5. Ask questions up front. Why did the last editor/writer leave? How do you pay your writers?
   
6. Sign a contract that details exactly how much you will be paid and when. (Thankfully I did this!)
   
7. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. In case a gig doesn't come to fruition it's good to have a couple others in the works to make sure you can pay your bills.
   
8. If it all seems a little too good to be true - unfortunately, it probably is.
   
9. Be open and honest with those who work with you on the project. That will go a long way if you need to give them bad news.
   
10. Suspect something is funny if the launch date gets pushed back, multiple times.