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February 23, 2006
Stuff-up or subterfuge?
This just in from a Melbourne barrister who's a long-term reader of Bleeding Edge in The Age, who continued to read it while he was overseas, and has recently returned home:
"I read the top article appearing under your byline in the electronic
Age this morning and thought that it was definitely not up to the
usual standard. A rather tedious piece about government IT
recruitment policy. I then looked at the top of the article and
realised it had been written by Stan Beer, as had another purported
Bleeding Edge article.
"A closer examination of the site revealed the absence of the BE Blog
and that your byline header had been 'un-highlighted' by comparison
with Macman etc. Something was obviously amiss - accordingly I went
to your blog to discover that your relationship with Fairfax is
apparently severed. What has happened?"
You all know what happened to Razor and the online version of Bleeding Edge (we should repeat, it's still appearing in the Green Guide, which has always been its primary home). But Fairfax visitors who click on the icon with CW's photo, and suddenly find themselves reading ... how did he put it? ... "a rather tedious piece about government IT recruitment policy", may not know what's happened. They may not realise that they're reading someone else's copy, and might even think that Bleeding Edge is no longer worth reading. That might damage the value of our by-line.
We could regard this as a tricky subterfuge, but it's more likely to be a stuff-up. So we've asked them to correct it. And we've asked again for the link under the column in the Green Guide to be changed, because Razor isn't operating any more.
And our barrister correspondent had something else to ask: "I would like to continue to follow your articles and to subscribe to any service that you set up. How do I go about doing it?" We've sent him the details of the Bleeding Edge bank account. Would you like us to send it to you, too?
Posted by cw at February 23, 2006 12:08 PM
Comments
sure, CW send them to be and ill add them to my list of payments
thanks
ws
Posted by: Wade Smith at February 23, 2006 01:32 PM
Good job your email address is at BE.
cheers, Paul
Posted by: Paul at February 23, 2006 07:23 PM
Hi Charles,
I will happily pay for your bleeding edge articles (I will get your bank details by email).
Regarding other "premium content" as you put it, have you thought about charging a fee for answering subscriber's questions? You would have to have clear guidelines about what type of questions are allowed and the nature of the advice you will offer. Somewhere between $2 (for a simple question) and $10 would be reasonable I think. Although there are some very knowledgable forum members (mostly now administrators) who generously provide their advice for free in the forum, you have the advantage of being known and trusted to your loyal column readers. I think the concept would be similar to the format of your radio show (except that you wouldn't be under pressure to come up with the answer immediately off the top of your head).
I hope this wouldn't change the dynamics of this very friendly, helpful community that has gathered here, but if the very survival of this blog is endangered (and you have to eat after all), then perhaps it is worth considering. If people don't use the service then at the very least it's no extra work for you!
Regards, Edgy.
Posted by: Edgy at February 23, 2006 09:37 PM
Hi Charles
Please send me your bank details as well.
Cheers Brendon
Posted by: brendon at February 23, 2006 09:45 PM