Comments on: Content Aggregation – The Channel [V] way

By: Melody

Melody — Fri, 21 Dec 2007 07:36:42 +0000

And I thought some of our well known bloggers that DP has linked so many times were also part of Channel V My report. I wonder how they did not notice this was plagiarism and raise the flag immediately.

Supremus, as Patrix has already replied to you, Sakshi & I are no longer with the My India Report (though they still have our old content, hence also our profiles up).

We were very careful to point out these issues when we were with the team so it’s very disheartening for us to see things like these happening now.

My advice to brands who want to get into serious blogging, is to get professional consultation – and listen to it! It’s an easy enough solution and not even expensive by their standards.

By: Vikas

Vikas — Mon, 17 Dec 2007 13:40:21 +0000

Fair point Patrix.

BTW, congratulations on your upcoming wedding!

By: Patrix

Patrix — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 11:32:18 +0000

Vikas, the benefits you mention can still happen with a short excerpt and a link to the original blog. If I continue to copy-paste your entire posts on my blog, no one is going to visit your blog.

By: Vikas

Vikas — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 03:58:04 +0000

Patrix – I certainly understand your concern about plagiarism – after all, bloggers don’t have anything else except their content and if mainstream media somehow appropriates that, then we are left with nothing.

However, in some cases, this phenomenon might be beneficial for the blogger because this way his or her content gets read by more people and eventually, could lead to more visitors on his or her blog.

By: Patrix

Patrix — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 07:28:15 +0000

Gaurav, I understand Channel [V] trying to get into the blogging groove and would excuse them if they messed up on something specifically related to blogging etiquette but I simply cannot understand how they thought it wise to cut-paste posts. Even in the non-blogging world, this is inexcusable and in the academic world, this end up with a permanent black mark. But as you say, I hope they pay better attention and improve on their mistakes.

By: Santosh

Santosh — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 20:51:19 +0000

Btw,
The almighty creator of DP comment was more in a friendly ribbing way not meant to be snarky. Just clarifying because its hard to say how something comes out over the Internet :-)

By: Gaurav Mishra

Gaurav Mishra — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 07:26:59 +0000

@Patrix: In spite of Channel V’s guest post faux pas, I think it’s a good sign that brands in India are beginning to find ways to engage with blogs. As bloggers, we need to be more patient with the mistakes brands make as they experiment with (to them) the new and niche medium of blogs. I’m both a blogger and a brand manager and, trust me, it’s not easy to allocate time and resources for a project like V’s My India Report. Ok, Channel V made a mistake, but they are listening and talking to bloggers and trying to find the right way to engage with blogging. I think Channel V needs to be applauded – not crucified – for what they are trying to do with My India Report.

By: Patrix

Patrix — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 02:23:55 +0000

Supremus, I can’t speak for them but I asked them before writing this post. They are no longer with ‘My India Report’ and have no clue of this ‘guest post’ behavior.

By: Supremus

Supremus — Sat, 08 Dec 2007 00:51:40 +0000

And I thought some of our well known bloggers that DP has linked so many times were also part of Channel V My report. I wonder how they did not notice this was plagiarism and raise the flag immediately.

By: Patrix

Patrix — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 21:54:28 +0000

Santosh, I’m sure they aren’t aware of DesiPundit let alone not wanting to ‘tangle with the almighty creator’. I think Dina talking to the Veep that made them backtrack.

By: Santosh

Santosh — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 20:56:13 +0000

Good catch, dude. Kudos! It’s one thing if they copy pasted from a 2 line post. But copy pasting an entire post with paragraphs is definitely plagiarism(sic??). Of course, once you pointed it out, they backed off. They did not want to tangle with the almighty creator of DP :-)

By: Patrix

Patrix — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:21:07 +0000

Krish Ashok, Ha! Didn’t realize I did that. I usually try to drop the anglicized ‘a’ from the end of Ramayan and Mahabharat or for that matter, even Ram & Ravan. After all, I’m not Patrixa.

But you are right about old media not getting it. Self preservation and controlling the monopoly definitely makes handling rapid changes in pop culture difficult but those who refuse to change will perish.

By: Krish Ashok

Krish Ashok — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 17:15:15 +0000

I noticed that they also removed “ha” from the end of my title to make it North Indian friendly (Mahabharat). I thought about insisting that they preserve the original title, but realized that that would be rather silly.

But you are right about mainstream media not really understanding social media. After all, a few years back, nobody was paying any attention to bloggers. And if one looks back at general corporate history – its always been this cycle repeated ad infinitum. (think rock music, PCs and blogging)
1. New phenomenon (with niche audience)
2. Mainstream ignores phenomenon, even derides it frequently
3. Mainstream starts to feel the pinch
4. Initiates accelerated attempt to catch up
5. Realizes that the game is slightly different
6. Tries to change the rules.
7. Co-opts niche culture and passes it off as mainstream (like Nike’s co-opting of Urban black culture)

So yeah, sorry about the long comment, but mainstream media has just currently languishing between step 5 and 6 (“paid” bloggers et al)