TypePad has introduced a “bailout” program for journalists who have been laid off or expect to be.
“In short, the program as described offers up a TypePad blog, a place in our Six Apart Media advertising program, promotion on Blogs.com, and a healthy dose of our expertise and insights into helping publishers and bloggers succeed online,” explains Anil Dash, Chief Evangelist for Six Apart, makers of MovableType and TypePad.
To me, this symbolizes the idea that blogs are far from dead, despite recent commentary on the contrary. Blogs are more alive than ever, and Six Apart and TypePad are going out of their way to make sure that remains true. As far as the old media vs. New Media debate, Sarah Perez at ReadWriteWeb offers the following wisdom:
And if you think successful journalism can only come on the platform of old media, you’re wrong. Look around. So many journalists are now getting into blogging, but one of our newest favs that proves the potential success of the model is TechFlash, home to John Cook and Todd Bishop, both of whom left their respected papers and struck out on their own to deliver quality tech news in readable format without all the bias, backstabbing, and petty quarrels the tech “blogosphere” seems to get itself involved in from time to time.
Journalists may also want to keep in mind Arianna Huffington’s recent, but vague, promise to begin funding investigative journalism through her incredibly successful The Huffington Post site, one of the most recognizable and read blogs out there.
Six Apart knows blogging isn’t going anywwhere. “We’re a company founded by bloggers, and we’ve supported online journalism from the beginning,” says Dash. “During a time when so many great journalists are worried about losing their jobs, we want to do what we can to help. So we’ve put together a program to put you on your first steps towards independence.”
A great many indeed. And the company has already seen on overwhelming amount of positive praise based on the program. Dash shares a few responses:
– “Thanks for coming up with such a smart solution to the journalist’s dilemma! Hope we can work something out.”
– “You have no idea how many questions this answers for me that I never even quite understood how to pose.”
– “Dear Six Apart, thanks very much for your kind offer, glad you are getting such a great response. I’ve been thinking about starting my own blog, and this seems like a good and fun way to do it.”
The program started as Dash intended to provide it to a few friends that have lost their jobs, but word got out and now hundreds have already signed up to participate in less than a day. It’s always nice to see Internet professionals helping each other out.
