You should have cited someone in the media who blogs, rather than a scientist. Maybe that Huffington woman, who seems to be all the rage. Or someone on Slate.

There is good reason to keep things away from folks like the Surgeon General. It is called insider trading.

Papers in the journals can influence share prices. Newspapers have rules that disbar their writers from dealing in the companies that they write about.

It may be that b5media has similar rules, in which case Hsien would be covered. But that does not apply to most bloggers, many of whom run their own show.

Don’t forget, EurekAlert! is only the middle man in the chain, sitting between the folks with material they want to release and the hacks who are drooling at the mouth awaiting its arrival.

As I have said several times, the mistake is to make the case for bloggers to have access. Just as some freelance writers are allowed in while others are not, the same should apply to bloggers.

I’d give it a few months before the AAAS begins to mend its ways.

A good ally to have on board would be the NASW. If they are “blogger friendly” then the AAAS will take some notice.

In other words, engage your brains and make a sensible case.

Maybe you missed my point. By citing the Surgeon General I was simply saying that someone with all the medical criteria and clout in the world would be denied simply based upon the fact that he uses blogging as his medium to convey it. Based on what EuerkAlert told Hsien in their follow up email, they simply don’t see blogging as a legitimate way to convey scientific information.

I don’t see this post by Hsien as a tantrum to make EurekAlert change their minds. I see it as someone who was simply venting that she wasn’t taken seriously because she blogs.

I also think the amount of comments posted is simply due to many serious bloggers not being respected and it really has nothing to do with EurekAlert, science and what not. The nerve struck is with the bloggers themselves who have made all efforts to follow the rules of journalism and no matter how professional or how much education we have in our backgrounds, we are still seen on a level playing field as someone who is just writing about X or Y just for fun.

Shannon: I appreciate the support! I know you get it.

Karen: Access or no access, blogging goes on.

Michael: I’m honored you’ve spent so much of your valuable time here defending old media and EurekAlert! I shall also go back to earning a living with my writing as I have been doing for the past…13 years. But I know that pales in comparison to old guards like you. Cheers.

Wrong example. Why should the Surgeon General have prior access to embargoed material? So that they can prepare a defence for things to be said about them?

Read what I wrote.

“Eurekalert! should review applications from bloggers just as it would any other bid for access. If someone can meet the same criteria as a freelance writer, for example, then they should grant access.”

Shannon also wrote “The point is that not all bloggers should be allowed in”.

That is now the line, but only after I suggested it.

At first the argument was “I AM AN IMPORTANT BLOGGER WITH LOTS OF DEGREES, I DEMAND ACCESS OR I WILL TAKE MY TOYS AWAY”.

As to the “65 comments… I think you struck a nerve.” Count their content. Not their numbers.

Were I over at Eurekalet! vetting an application, I would see the vapid and content free tenor of most of these messages as a confirmation of my original decision.

This is not the place to try to persuade the AAAS. Hsien should enlist the support of the people behind this bolt hole. Or possibly one or two Nobel prize winners.

Then again, any company can set itself up as a media giant in these e-days. I have never heard of b5media. They may be the next Google. Or they may be a couple of undergraduates whiling away the hours between bouts of binge drinking.

I have regular dealings with other start ups burning up venture capital cash. I know just how seriously to take them. The usual phrase to describe these things is “crash and burn”.

In a nutshell, it is the blog words that scares the AAAS. And with good reason given that 99% of all known blogs are crap.

Back to earning a living with this writing caper.

I agree Shannon. They should review each application and allow Hsien access.

I don’t understand the comments about this being a moral crusade because I see it as someone who has the educational and scientific clout wondering why she is discriminated against simply because blogging is her medium.

Basically EurekAlert is saying that even if the Surgeon General applied for embargoed access, but listed that it was for his blog, he too would be denied. Silly.

You’re one of the nerdiest science writers I know (a compliment I assure you) so I’m baffled at their stance, but the writing on the wall is there. Bloggers are a force to be reckoned with…

65 comments… I think you struck a nerve.