Techdirt In The Interview Hotseat

from the Q&A dept

Thu, Nov 1st 2007 11:51am — Mike Masnick

It's apparently interview season, as two separate interviews that were done with me about Techdirt were just published. The first was conducted by Glyn Moody and appears in today's Guardian over in the UK. It covers a variety of things, from the Techdirt Insight Community, to this blog, to the economics I tend to write about. It was a fun interview and it's almost too bad that the limits of newsprint (and time) meant we couldn't go into more depth on some of the subjects.

The second interview was by Michael Banks, for his new book called Blogging Heroes. Banks went out and interviewed a bunch of bloggers to try to find out the history of their blogs, what makes them blog and what advice they have for other bloggers. The publisher is conducting a little marketing experiment as well, where they send each of the bloggers who was interviewed a copy of their own interview to post on their blogs. So you're starting to see a few different chapters available. It's yet another experiment in understanding how free content makes good sense, so I can't resist posting my interview here:

One point that unfortunately doesn't come through clearly enough in either interview is how much we owe all the readers around here -- especially those who actively participate in the comments and the Insight Community. This wouldn't be worth doing without all of you. So, a big thank you from those of us at Techdirt!

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team

Filed Under: blogging, interview, techdirt
Companies: techdirt

11 Comments

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Brian Day, 1 Nov 2007 @ 12:30pm

Congrats Mike
Congrats on the nice coverage. What a long strange trip it's been.
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Adam, 1 Nov 2007 @ 12:36pm

well done, mike
you interview like a pro (well, you are, so that makes sense)

great work...been a fan of techdirt for years so it makes me happy to see you in the news
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Killer_Tofu (profile), 1 Nov 2007 @ 12:37pm

Woot!
And not the website either.
Woot as in awesome for you.
I am glad to have stumbled upon this almost 2 years ago.
Love the site and keep up the good work, it is appreciated!
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Wyatt, 1 Nov 2007 @ 1:32pm

Very well done.
Good insight on tech dirt and blogging. I didn't know you cared so much about us readers ;)
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Haywood, 1 Nov 2007 @ 2:01pm

best part is;
This means you aren't preaching to the choir. People who don't come here are getting the word.
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Max Powers at http://ConsumerFight.com, 1 Nov 2007 @ 2:54pm

Congratulations
First off, I'd like to congratulate you on the interviews. that seems pretty cool to me. Second, I'd like to thank you for keeping the site fresh with new topics everyday, I have learned a lot and love the interaction.
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Danny, 1 Nov 2007 @ 4:04pm

Thanks
I'm really glad my coworkers told me about this site last year. Instead of stumbling randomly around the net for things to do at work when I get those precious few free moments. Keep up the good work.
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Chad, 1 Nov 2007 @ 7:25pm

Congrats!
Congrats on the chapter. I love techdirt, I read it daily, actually a few times a day. So, thanks for being the first place I turn to for tech analysis.
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David Canton, 2 Nov 2007 @ 5:14am

Blogging Heroes
Interesting chapter. But it didn't tell us which one of the Heroes blogs - my guess is the cheerleader.

BTW, I'm sure my own blog must have been #31 on the list:)
( canton.elegal.ca )
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yogi, 2 Nov 2007 @ 6:43am

The book looks great and the interview was very interesting - as you usually are.
congrats on the attention.
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Michael A. Banks, 2 Nov 2007 @ 6:22pm

Blogging Heroes
Thank you for posting your chapter, Mike. It's good to see the reactions. Your interview is one of the more interesting--particularly because you have such a long-term perspective--and I hope that many, many readers discover Techdirt!
--Mike
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