TechCrunch to Embargoes: RIP

By Ben Haber

September 24th, 2009

Almost a year after announcing that they would no longer accept most embargoed news, TechCrunch has declared that the embargo is officially dead – at least in their opinion. Michael Arrington argues that since Google and Microsoft are no longer able to hold their embargoes (PaidContent broke Google’s embargo about Sidewiki on Wednesday), the last tree in the forest has fallen, effectively leaving embargoes news on the side of the road for trash day.

The Wall Street Journal has also adopted a similar policy as TechCrunch, only accepting embargoes for exclusives.

One of the more interesting discussions comes in TechCrunch’s comments section, where one reader discusses the value of having multiple outlets reporting on news as opposed to one outlet that is granted an exclusive. In response, Sarah Lacy argues that it’s easier to get news just from one source which explains the popularity of aggregators like Techmeme. However, Techmeme is actually a collection of stories from various sources, effectively making the reader’s point that readers value different sources for information.

In any case, TechCrunch has declared that the embargo is officially dead, so now the big question is how many other outlets will follow suit…

Entry Filed under: Newspapers,Public relations