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Author:   Matt Deatherage  
Posted: 2/11/06; 3:25:32 PM
Topic: An Olympic RSS note
Msg #: 1532 (top msg in thread)
Prev/Next: 1531/1533
Reads: 8193

An Olympic RSS note

A warning to online news providers, not that any of them will read it:

If you put Olympic results for events delayed in the US in the headlines of your RSS feed, so that just by looking at the head I see the results of competitions I can't watch for several hours, I'm unsubscribing from your feed - at least for the duration of the Winter Games, and perhaps for good if I realize I can get along without your feed.

The first victim: the Dallas Morning News, whose RSS feed is all but useless anyway, because it only provides headlines, with no summary or content of any kind. In looking at it just now, I saw this (redacted) headline:

[prominent name] wins gold in [event to be televised tonight]

Headlines like "Today's Olympic results" or "US wins more medals" or such would be fine, but not giving away the results of prime-time events several hours earlier in the headline. You may have a duty to report the news, but not to be so inconsiderate of the millions who want to watch the events.

At least now I know one result, so I can evaluate other feeds now for the same stupidity.

Update: Yahoo News Top Stories goes, as does Yahoo News - Sports, for the same reasons. They're just carrying AP stories, but I don't need 17 days of prime-time spoilers. Reuters Top News has the same problem, though less pronounced, but I think I can live without it for a few weeks.

Update #2: Oops, now CNN - Most Popular is gone too.

Update #3: Ouch - today, it's The Huffington Post that can't resist giving away prime-time results in headlines instead of stories. Gone it is for the duration.

# - Posted to Rah! Rah! Rah! on 2/11/06; 3:25:32 PM - Discuss -

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