Fox News...squeaky wheel gets oil. Underdog news outlet movin' up...

Move on up!

Well, they won't have Fox News to kick around any more!

And, the brass at the underdog "network" have Helen Thomas to thank for it.

The White House Correspondents' Association has announced that they will be playing some musical chairs in the briefing room at the White House in the next few days.

Say what?

A classic case of squeaky wheel getting the oil?

On the heels of the unceremonious departure of Helen Thomas, Fox was given the nod to pack up their kit 'n kaboodle and slip into a prestigious slot in the front row where all the action is.

According to the WHCA, politics did not play a role in their decision to move Fox "up".

"We were  persuaded by Fox's length of service and commitment to the White House television pool."

Since the forced retirement of Helen Thomas (who was shown the back door for making inappropriate comments on-the-fly a few weeks ago ) three of the major news outlets have been chomping at the bit to inch closer to the podium where they would be better placed to eyeball the President at White House press briefings.

Under the revised seating plan, Associated Press will hold court in the center spot, vacated by Thomas.

Fox News will feather a little nest (in the old wire services spot) alongside CNN and a couple of reputable Broadcast Networks of note.

In the spite of the changes, Bloomberg remains in the second row, as NPR moves up from the third row to Fox's current second-row seat.

Although the Financial Times will now get a regular seat, U.S. News & World Report lost theirs.

Meanwhile, Politico and American Urban Radio Networks moved into the third row, as the Washington Times fell back into the fourth without argument.

The foreign press pool was granted its own seat under the revised plan.

Several news organizations either petitioned to get regular seats in the briefing room - or made a bid to keep their current seats - which signalled all may not be cozy and well in the White House Press Room just yet.

Is there a spot for moi?

The Tattler, you fool!

http://www.julianayrs.com

Associated Press...Monopoly of the news is un-American. Technorati bans AP!

There has been quite a fall-out against AP in the wake of their attacks on the DRUDGE report for alleged illegal misuse of quoted material and news clips.

Many blog sites are banning Associated Press from their band widths.

In recent days, AP big-wigs pointed an accusing finger at DRUDGE for linking up to their news reports and providing short quotations via reader submissions.

According to Tech Crunch, DRUDGE is doing nothing more that what Digg, TechMeme, Mixx and dozens of other sites do.

Obviously, because DRUDGE is the big honcho on the block - who savors a widespread influence in his capacity as an innovative news outlet on the world-wide-web - AP has elected to either ding him for the privilege of using their musings - or in the alternative, at least - shut him down altogether.

In the wake of the controversy, Technorati - numero uno blog spot on the planet - has banned Associated Press from their band widths altogether.

For good reason.

AP does not want people quoting their stories despite the fact that such activity very clearly falls within the fair use exception to copyright law.

As long as bloggers and reporters from news outlets give proper credit for the quotes, there should not be any problem, in my humble opinion.

If Associated Press labels the fair use activity as an infringement, then I say bullsh**.

In essence, AP is trying to secure a monopoly on the news.

And, in my estimation, that is un-American.

Notwithstanding, it should be noted that on any occasion that I have ever "chosen" to quote AP myself, it amounted to "throwing a bone" their way.

Because I attempt to give a balanced view of the news, I often include a myriad of viewpoints from a handful of news sources to add depth and dimension to the report. If ever I quoted AP, it was because I chose to, not because there was any pressing need for their material.

Personally, I can survive quite nicely without Associated Press.

If anything - they are stuffy and old guard and are ham-strung in many respects when they report on their white bread "news" - anyway.

A.P. Vice President Jim Kennedy says they will issue guidelines telling bloggers what is acceptable and what isn't over and above what the law says is acceptable.

Over your dead news organization!

He had the audacity to note for the record that AP intends to "define clear standards as to how much of its articles and broadcasts bloggers and web sites can excerpted without infringing on the AP copyright".

Boy, he's full of himself, isn't he?

Kennedy went on to warn that those who disregard the guidelines risk being sued by the AP even if those guidelines are in direct conflict with applicable Laws.

In my mind's eye, their downfall is surely on the way.

Who needs 'em?

Bloggers, blog sites, and Internet Web news sites are proliferating, and gaining respect and stature in the news industry; but, more importantly, are changing the face of the news arena daily.

In the near future, AP will be turning to bloggers for news stories!

Are the blogsters going to let 'em use the material?

The jury is still out.

Meanwhile, bloggers and blog sites are turning their backs on Associated Press.

AP is banned until they abandon their lunatic strategy.

Likewise, Bloggers will no longer quote 'em or link to 'em or even acknowledge their petty meaningless existence.

Voltaire once said,

We have a natural right to make use of our pens as of our tongue, at our peril, risk and hazard.