If you have content which must be paid before it is published — is that news or paid advertising? It is a sad state of affairs in the blockchain industry that a growing number of crypto media news outlets no longer publish news. They sell paid advertising instead.

Before you jump to the conclusion that those named below are the bad guys, keep in mind they in fact do NOT fall into the total journalistic bankruptcy next-to-thieves bottom feeder category.

Advertisers like Coindesk, NewsBTC and Bitcoinist do not accept a press release upload on their website unless you pony up cold cash -or bitcoin — on the table. If you go to these websites you will encounter these required payment forms:

Coindesk

NewsBTC

Bitcoinist

Sources: websites as of January 10 2016.

Unfair, unethical disservice

The problem with this is the end result; readers like you are increasingly fed paid advertising pablum. Actual news falls by the wayside unless the greenback or $BTC changes hands. And it isn’t as if its a large industry where there are many other players to take your press release to. There are only a limited number of crypto publishers with significant industry distribution and publishing weight. The net effect is unfair to readers, unethical as a policy, questionable as a viable long term business practise of an actual “news” organization, and is a disservice to the blockchain industry in general.

Definition of: disservice

2. verb (used with object), disserviced, disservicing.

to provide inadequate or faulty service to:

Crypto readers & vendors are disserviced by mandatory charges on all press releases.

[definition source: http://dictionary.reference.com/]

Lets assume for a moment that you have a fresh piece of news in your hand and you want it released on major cryptocurrency outlets. In the old days in any news market you used to submit your news for review. It found its way to an editor. It was published — or not — based on its merit. That’s no longer always found. If you want a quick list of major cryptocurrency publishers you do a google search for “major cryptocurrency news publishers”. It yields these results:

Google : “major cryptocurrency news publishers”

For our purposes we ignore blog, social media, youtube, forum, non-industry specific, and unrelated results. Big players like Wired or Techcrunch are not just crypto, so we exclude them. We also ignore crypto firms like ZeroBlock who accept paid press releases but news is not apparently the primary focus of their business. Of the results we want, here’s what happens.

Next you browse each website and find the upload press release or contact link. What you sometimes find when you arrive on the website is not a handy editor email link and not an easy upload form for attachments — but instead a grab for your money.

Four submission categories

The types of cryptocurrency press businesses you will see fall into four broad categories:

1. money grab — advertisers looking for the quick buck

2. an opportunistic balance

3. old world publishing

4. journalistic bankruptcy

1. Money grab

This category will only accept your press release if you pay them. There is no provision on their website to upload a press release without payment. Payment must be made in order to have your press release published.

This category is undesirable. It is undesirable because it inhibits freedom of speech and freedom of press. It clamps down on anyone who is not willing to pay, or who has news which lacks a commercial basis. It is undesirable because the content which is displayed to readers — purportedly as news — is actually pablum fed to you by vested interest vendors with a pecuniary stake in the publication. In short, you’re having somebody else’s promo rolled under your nose in the guise of “news”. Lap it up. The publisher walks away with fuller pockets, the vendor gets their content promoted, and the reader doesn’t know any better. Another one fobbed off on unsuspecting consumers.

One of the problems with the money grabber approach is that if every publisher acts like them then everybody suffers. News is no longer news. It becomes pure and simple vested interest advertising. Who wants that?

Money only publishers could benefit by moving to an opportunistic model. If they did so then the quality and the quantity of their content could grow.

2. Opportunistic

The opportunistic category is for those publishers who offer free press release submissions but also with an optional paid slot to enhance the priority, visibility, and other characteristics of that news. This is arguably a sane approach. It gives the publisher a chance to earn revenue while it gives the vendor a chance to get published free. Best of all, readers can benefit with more and better balanced news. A harmonic balance.

3. True blue

The third category is for publishers where no cash changes hands. These are true blue publishers who accept your content and promote it based solely on its merit. That’s the way it used to be. What could be fairer? Their names and links are worth repeating:

• http://cointelegraph.com/about • http://themerkle.com/contact/ • http://allcoinsnews.com/contact-us/ • http://bravenewcoin.com • https://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/tips-ccn/ • http://coinjournal.net/submitting-a-press-release/ • http://dcebrief.com/contact-us/ us/ • http://cryptonewsday.com/submit-stories-get-paid/ • https://bitmakler.net/add • cryptscout.com/contact-us/

Nice to see that http://cryptonewsday.com/submit-stories-get-paid/ even goes a step further and tries to pay YOU! Now that’s refreshing.

A publisher viewpoint

One industry publisher stated: “In the defense of those in the ‘disservice’ list, ad revenue for any sites in the bitcoin space is lackluster. Advertisers are nickling and diming publishers. They want you to write about their products and services, but they have no loyalty.” The publisher further indicates that publishers are receiving unrealistic corporate low ball offers for their primary revenue item — advertising.

It is understandable how in the wake of such short shrift that different advertising models crop up in the cryptocurrency marketplace.

The Fourth Category: journalistic bankruptcy

If you’re an avid reader and do not see your favorite publisher named here there are two or more plausible reasons. They were missed, or were identified as what one publisher calls “indeed a shady, dodgy place” and or “immoral, plagiaristic”, “rip off” and “just thieves”. Even one of the “True Blue” category publishers has been fingered as “the Lord High Sith of the Dark Side” because of plagiarism. Others are guilty of shady practises.

So, our four neat categories do not precisely fit the reality. While we could delve into journalistic theft — and website traffic renditioning — that’s another story.

Point unchanged

However, despite the presence of shortcomings — and outright journalistic bankruptcy — this does not change the fact that it is a disservice to push only paid pablum as “news” over major news outlets. Furthermore, there could at least be an option to upload free press releases for a balanced approach.

Article conflict of interest

This article was published on merit. No store of value changed hands to publish this article.