Genetics and Health

More About the EurekAlert! Smackdown

by Hsien Hsien Lei, PhD on March 15th, 2007

I’m almost embarrassed to still be on the EurekAlert! warpath, but I’ve received so much support that I can’t NOT say just a couple more things.

First, thank you to Shannon Nelson of Pierce Mattie Public Relations for bringing attention to the matter of blogger and blogging legitimacy. She interviewed me for the Pierce Mattie Fitness Division blog on this issue and about science and health blogging in general. I hope you’ll go by and take a look (warning: beware of my HUGE profile pic ;) )

Also, Tris and Bora have both received responses from EurekAlert! regarding their applications to be registered users. Their rejection letter differs significantly from mine, which shows that there has been some thinking going on behind the scenes although nothing substantial has changed.

FYI, I’ve shared my rejection letter and theirs below the fold. There’s no confidentality clause in the EurekAlert! emails.

Here’s the rejection letter I received from their Publications Assistant.

Dear Dr. Lei,

Thank you for your registration application and request for access to embargoed news through EurekAlert!. After careful consideration of your application, we have made the decision to decline your registration request. All registration decisions are made based upon our eligibility criteria, and your application does not appear to meet the necessary requirements at this time. Please note that you may still access the many public sections of our Web site, which include our Breaking News section, archive of 60,000+ press releases and more.

If you feel we have made this decision in error, please feel free to contact me with more information about your status as a journalist.

And here’s the letter Tris and Bora received from their Communications Officer (a higher rank than the writer of my letter, I think).

Greetings Mr. Hussey:

Thank you for your registration application and request for access to embargoed news through EurekAlert!. After careful consideration of your application, we have made the decision to decline your registration request. All registration decisions are made based upon our eligibility
criteria, and your application does not appear to meet the necessary requirements at this time.

EurekAlert! values and recognizes the diversity of the science journalism community. However, EurekAlert!’s policies regarding access to embargoed news, in adherence to Securities Exchange Act guidelines, outline that access is provided only for on-staff and freelance reporters, editors or producers employed by accredited news media outlets. All applicants and media outlets are reviewed based upon
objective criteria including, but not limited to: the volume and frequency of original news content produced; the nature of any professional roles assumed in addition to staff/freelance reporter; and the demonstrated need for access to embargoed information. While we value your interest in obtaining registered access to our Web site, we are bound to enforce our policies uniformly.

Please note that you may still access the many public sections of our Web site, which include our Breaking News section, archive of over 80,000 press releases and more.

On the one hand, I kind of don’t care anymore. On the other hand, I wish more of us science and health bloggers would speak up and cry foul. In the end, there’s still genetics, genes, and DNA to write about and in my mind, those subjects are far more fascinating and worthwhile.

Thanks again, everyone. I truly appreciate your continuing support.

Oh, and you want to know what’s really ironic? I’m #5 on a Google search for EurekAlert! (with and without the exclamation mark) with my positive review of their service. *sigh*

Update: Don’t miss Alun’s thoughtful post at Archaeoastronomy that considers the role of bloggers, science, media and the AAAS. Mel at Aesahaettr also has some cryptic comments on the situation. I’m still scratching my head…. And thanks also to Jeremy at Another Blasted Weblog for giving me some other good ideas about how to approach the situation.

Tags: eurekalert, eurekalert!, tris hussey, bora zivkovic, genetics, science, blogging, bloggers, aaas

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POSTED IN: Genetics Blogging, Genetics Interviews