Update II - Dan Gillmor points out I am wrong in my assertion that the entirety of "We The Media" is not available online for free - it is. Please accept my apologies, Dan.
However, when I click "start reading" at the book's link at O'Reilly it takes me, and everyone else I imagine, here. I've since looked and haven't yet been able to find a direct link like the one the author provides in the comments below. Dan suggested that I should have contacted him before posting, but my guess is that I found exactly what any regular book browser would have found. Making the free link more prominent would be the better route rather than having to contact the author as Gillmor suggests, then a reader such as myself might not think he actually has to pay for what is available for free through some hard-to-find link.
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In the comments to my recent post about the N&R's archive policy, Mr. Sun points out some possible hypocrisy within the blogosphere. Two of the evangelists within the Church of Unfettered and Free Access apparently don't practice everything they preach.
A couple of days ago, Jay Rosen made his case that the N&R (or similar) should seriously consider opening up its pay-to-view content for all, free of charge. Rosen concludes that post with, "...this is about public memory... Come to find out, the only way to enter Rosen's 'What are Journalists For' (1999) into the public's memory is for us to buy the book for $42.50 (new, hardcover).
Dan Gillmor's 'We The Media' (2004) does little better. Gilmor's oft-cited treatise on grassroots journalism is available online, but you'll have to pay to read it all. The O'Reilly Network does offer the book's introduction for free, but the meat of it will cost you $24.95
Shouldn't the geese drink from the same cup they are offering to the ganders?
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Update: Sun's "gentle nudge" in the comments below...
"...Did Martin Luther hammer an invoice to the church door? Did Thomas Paine distribute a flyer about a book signing? Did Karl Marx sell his manifesto at flea markets? You say you got a real solution, well you know -- we'd all love to see the plan. You ask me for a contribution, well you know -- we're all doing what we can."
12:04:19 AM 
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