(above, a possible alternative to ‘Going Rogue’, if you’re shopping at Building 19)

You might recall in June of 2008, the Associated Press revealed a controversial licensing scheme under which blogs would be expected to compensate the A.P. for quotes as short as 5 words.  Compare and contrast the news organization’s stance with their zeal to share portions of Sarah Palin’s recently published ‘Going Rogue’, as reported by Talking Points Memo’s Christina Bellatoni (link h/t Rebecca Tushnet, Boing Boing)

Mike Oreskes, a senior managing editor, offers staffers a description of the AP’s own work tracking down and fact checking the book and it reads like a spy thriller:

“The AP was determined to get the first copy,” Oreskes wrote, detailing how the writers learned a store had “inadvertently placed the book on sale five days before its official Nov. 17 release date.”

“They bought a copy, ripped it from its spine and scanned it into the system so it could be read and electronically searched,” he wrote. “A NewsNow moved within 40 minutes, followed quickly by multiple leads as details were gleaned from the 413-page manuscript.”