Since the recent dust up between some bloggers and the Associated Press over the definition of free use and proper sourcing, many members of the blogging community now recognize the importance of pointing out when their content is either referenced or quoted by mainstream media publications without proper sourcing.

Linking is what makes content on the internet move, and although a lot of bloggers sell themselves and their original content short, original content deserves to be sourced properly. It was the amateur bloggers that created this system, so it’s the mainstream media that must adapt to its conventions–not the other way around. If the Associated Press thinks it’s okay to try and re-frame online free use and sourcing conventions because it suits them one way, independent bloggers need to stand up and point out how it won’t. And one way we can show mainstream media publications that the conventions established over the past 20 years by new media pioneers benefit everyone is by reminding them that what works when sharing media is the sharing part.

So, send up your stories about being quoted without being sourced and we’ll publish them.