Is it for yourself? Want to see your words in print? Do you write to toss your thoughts to the masses? Do you write for the paycheck? Are you hoping to be recognized for a personal brilliance? Is it the feedback that you crave?

I don’t think it’s as much about bloggers vs mainstream as it is about what you really want, and whether allowing that mainstream reproduction (paid or not) helps you get that.
my $0.02

If they like your old articles, then let them use your skills for new articles that you write for them for compensation. That’s what I’d do.

“It may end up diminishing the blogosphere’s power in the long run if the best bloggers give away their content to major media.”

Mike L. – I could not agree more with you about the media paying a select few. We always hear that content is king. Yet, they pay content creators like paupers. Been there, done that.

I appreciate everyone’s comments. And I concur with most. However I have a sneaking suspicion that many ‘up-and-coming’ bloggers are way too eager to ‘sell the ranch’ for major media exposure.

I’d consider sharing or creating specific posts for specific purposes, but it would be crazy to grant a blanket permission to your full feed!

At least these guys deserve credit for asking permission, however. Somebody regularly steals my entire blog post and reproduces it with a link back to my site. Whoever it is doesn’t even call me by the right name. Irritating.

Generating traffic/revenue is one of reasons the major media is requesting your services. Sure, maybe some rookie will provide them with free content, but it won’t have the authority of the content that comes from an established blogger.

Which brings me to my second point…established bloggers providing free content to major media allows the major media to establish/build authority/credibility on issues for which many readers currently turn almost exclusively to the blogosphere. It may end up diminishing the blogosphere’s power in the long run if the best bloggers give away their content to major media…it may end up diminishing the blogosphere’s power if you sell it to them too.

Perhaps the difference lies in the goals…in my opinion the primary goal of the major media is to make money, not to provide content. In contrast, the primary goal of the blogosphere is to provide content with revenue being an important, but secondary consideration for some (but not all bloggers. When the money becomes the primary goal (especially if it becomes the primary goal of a majority of bloggers), the intellectual freedom of this form of media will be lost…to what extent remains open for debate.

I’m not saying that a writer/blogger shouldn’t sell his or her work to the mainstream media, but I recommend a much more thorough examination of the possible consequences before doing so.

For example (I usually blog about knitting), the major knitting media (oxymoron?) use their ‘blogs’ largely to advertise or otherwise pimp their products (patterns, yarn, publications, etc.)…not to provide entertainment or information for its own sake (that is, they ‘emulate’ the blogosphere, they aren’t really part of it). Blogs by other knitters, however, are used to entertain and/or provide free information to readers…they engage readers on a completely different level than the commercial ‘blogs’. Some of these bloggers are freelance writers who also sell columns to the knitting media and contribute to or author their own books, but their blogs are not used to generate revenue in any significant way and the content they sell for publication has a distinctly different look and feel than that on their blogs (or when they are guest posting on some other knitting blog).

What is the difference between providing an article/editorial for pay and providing a ‘blog post’ for pay? Well, that may depend on the answer to the following question…

Is the blogosphere a unique and independent web entity where the major media can emulate the entity’s format, but not its essential ‘spirit’ or is it merely another means of disseminating information on the web, in which case it isn’t much different from other sources (online magazines, newspapers, video news sites, etc.)?

Beats me, but it probably bears some further thought, exploration, discussion.

Now, that’s not to say that I myself haven’t created content specifically for other blogs; I’ve done that. I’ve also hosted that same content on my own blog. I think that’s a different case though.

The company’s you’re talking about are out to make money, and someone there is looking to increase their bottom line with your work.

Don’t do it for free.

I find it interesting that the majority of bloggers promote the benefits of guest posts, but seem adamantly against giving stories to major media.

I whole-heartedly agree that media companies should pay (hence the original post). However, other than deep pockets and the prospect of a large audience, what’s the real difference?

Getting your name out there is a ruse used by companies who try to hire freelancers all the time. “This will look good in your portfolio.”

If they see value in your perspective and opinion, they should be willing to part with some of their value ($) in return.

You’re better off building your own brand and controlling your own brand than you are doing free writing. If you’re not going to get to control your brand, you should at least be compensated.