Reuters is the more “blog friendly” news wire

There is a kind of rivalry between the news wires. The two biggest, the Associated Press and Reuters, have been finding themselves with troubles facing linking issues and fair use on the internet. The Associated Press has always had issues with people using its content even if it is linked and properly cited. However, Reuters President Chris Ahearn, has said the following in regards to using Reuters as a source for a blog post:

I believe in the link economy. Please feel free to link to our stories — it adds value to all producers of content. I believe you should play fair and encourage your readers to read-around to what others are producing if you use it and find it interesting.

I don’t believe you could or should charge others for simply linking to your content. Appropriate excerpting and referencing are not only acceptable, but encouraged. If someone wants to create a business on the back of others’ original content, the parties should have a business relationship that benefits both.

Let’s stop whining and start having real conversations across party lines…

He also uses Twitter to tell followers that Reuters is always looking for people who want or need an alternative to the AP.

Of course, this is all fine with me simply because, while I was in journalism school, I thought that people looked a bit too highly and Reuters is sometimes seen as just the second alternative. I believe that the AP should loosen up its terms of use in order to allow blog and other writers to use bits and pieces of their writings (as long as it is properly linked and cited in all posts).