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An Open Letter to TV FIX

Next time one of my interviews is so newsworthy it is worth re-reporting, how about acknowledging the source?

Dear TV FIX

It’s wonderful that you are reading my website and finding my stories of great interest.

But next time you decide one of my interviews is so newsworthy it is worth re-reporting, how about acknowledging the source?

A Howzat interview appears in edited form on your website without any attribution. The byline by writer Rebecca Isaacs completely overlooks that I went to the set to watch filming and interviewed cast.

That’s what I do for my readers.

TV FIX on the other hand files next to no TV news (most of which is lifted from the US), let alone breaks any TV scoops. This is despite the voluminous traffic you have, and the entire backing of NineMSN -I am a team of 1.

I have no problem with aggregating of my content so long as sites follow online practice of:
a) acknowledge source with an active link.
b) never take 100% of story.
c) re-write and embellish with your own perspective.

This is how I conduct aggregation so that readers always have the option of going back to the story for more of the story. Win / win.

To lift these quotes and re-package as your own story is sloppy, bordering on plagiarism.

Kindly provide an active link immediately and to all content aggregated from this site.

Regards,
David Knox

39 Responses

  1. Only just caught my ‘TV fix’ on the one-and-only TV Tonight late today and offer you my belated sympathy and indeed, empathy, I’ve had a few works pinched myself over the years so I know your pain.

    Don’t let it bother you DK. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery then plagiarism is high praise indeed. Noli illegitimi carborundum. (don’t let the bastards wear you down!)

  2. Good for you for publicly giving them a shout-out like this. Plagiarism is rife on news websites and it is always wrong. That website is not fit to tie this one’s shoelaces, anyway, it is nowhere near the quality of this site.

  3. austvarchive..I refer to this general issue in a comment in the TV Lounge. I don’t think this good enough or acceptable.

    Time for the networks who invest so much energy in griping at each other to call a moratorium on that and join with the others in addressing copyright and piracy issues.

    It frankly blows me away to see a network on one hand depend so much on saturation advertising (which they know audiences despise), and yet on the other quite willingly cooperate in activities that cut across their financial and material well being and ‘distinctive’ brand.

    It isn’t rocket science to generate reasonable solutions to many of these matters. Perhaps shareholders need to start becoming more savvy and asking better questions.

  4. Welcome to the media industry! – this is sort of thing is becoming far too common these days. The amount of archival material lifted from our our youtube channel and being used without aknowledgement (or payment) by the media is amazing. Puberty Blues used the soundtrack from “Mr Sheen” commercial we saved and is on youtube in the background in one scene (never mind it was the wrong year). Today Tonight & ACA also regularly lifts our clips cropping out the watermark where possible. Normally these sort of archival supply services would attract a fee (that is after all how we can afford to save/archive new material) But at the very least an aknowledgment or plug of the source would be appreciated. Sadly in todays industry its a free for all grab…

  5. I agree with Maev. They should apologise as well as acknowledge the source plus what you wanted.

    Good luck with this and you do a lot of work for your wonderful site. You don’t deserve such treatment.

  6. I used to have a look at TVFix but quit when I realised pretty much everything of real interest was being reported much better on this site. The occasional slide-show top 10 was sometimes an indulgent bit of fun but even they have lost their charm.

  7. Me too Bella,this is the only tv site I visit as well.
    I still can’t believe that someone has blatantly gone and done this.You should give credit where it’s due.This is not fair play and it’s rude.This is someone not willing to make an effort,either by acknowledging the original author or writing an original piece of their own.Very lazy writing.

  8. TV Fix’s articles are fairly poor and the site is run to promote Channel 9.

    It doesn’t a have a handy TV guide that is good for tracking where the networks have moved your favorite shows to this week.

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