Posts by Idiot Savant
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So no-one read to the end of my piece? :-(
D'oh.
I hope the link helped anyway.
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A few years ago there was a push for a solution to the "change all at once" problem where some big state people proposed local changes that do along the lines of "if our state plus enough other states to hold a majority of the electoral college then we will appoint our states electors to represent the winner of the national vote" which solves the change problem because local representation doesn't change until enough states are in the pot and it avoids the small states for whom this would reduce their representation (someone in Wyoming, as you say, gets a much larger representation that in CA).
That would be the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which currently has 50 of the 270 electoral college votes it needs (but may be about to swag California). And it seems to be a pretty good solution to a C18th anachronism.
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You don't think writers like Jane Clifton mightn't constantly be on the lookout for interesting new gigs that might allow them to work beyond the parameters of what they're currently doing?
Or that a hypothetical Crikey-like site might not benefit from recruiting a few high-profile eyeball-capturing names at the outset?
Actually, now that you mention it, I do.
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The commissioning editor pays writers some suitable premium above the going rate, but otherwise on the normal terms for copyright (which I think typically goes to the entity paying, yes?)
Only if the writer is stupid (or, more likely, bullied into it by the buyer).
The basic rule for freelancers: never give up copyright.
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not at all. i could write about local body politics, or... fishing(?) to my hearts content.
But would it? Be content, I mean?
(I don't think mine would. Fortunately, the public service doesn't do stuff in PN)
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Personally, I see having a trust that funds/commissions stories as being a separate project from running a (profitable?) online news site. The two projects might well have a lot in common and support each other, but I think they would be best run by different people.
I think you're right. But if Dave H wants to make a go of trying to do a local Crikey, I'll happily support that too.
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<sighs and pretends he got to be in the club too>
Your career or blogging: choose.
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Well, Russell's original proposal was about funding content wih the goal of using the MSM for wider distribution. But people seem to want to be a lot more ambitious.
I love the idea of a DIY site - if only to make Jane Clifton scream louder about demarcation...
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To me an interesting model would be a trust which provided an environment by which freelance journalists could research and produce stories, and then hawk them around the various media outlets for publication.
Kindof an agency model then?
The problem is supporting it - at current freelance rates, there's barely enough for freelancers to scrape by, let alone pay overheads. And while the trust could press for more money, that's very much against the trend inthe NZ media.
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Reading their site, Spot.Us relies on people votting "with their money" - i.e. its passing the hat to fund specific stories and investigate specific issues (and they stick it on their website and push it into syndication). This is a possible model, and there's already the infrastructure for the payment side at Fundable (think "Pledgebank with a credit-card interface").