I suppose I should be flattered at the promotion; didn't know the dreaded middle management qualified as being an "executive." As was suggested to me, I should share this with my father, I'm sure he'd be proud.
But, more to the point, it was shocking and not a little bit frightening to see a "news story," or at least a short brief with a byline, about me and my recent home purchase published on BlockShopper. I've tried to formulate a reasoned opinion around the two-faced beast that the internet is and here's some more empirical evidence.
No, I'd never heard of BlockShopper either, but on their About Us page, they claim to provide "original news and data" as they are run by "experienced journalists." And the kicker: "For us, this is a journalistic exercise; we aspire to be part of the 'next generation' of local media companies, taking local news gathering to an entirely new level."
What makes this whole bit amusing is the lack of journalism involved. Shania Sampson took public record information -- my purchase of a house -- and coupled it with my LinkedIn profile. She turned bullet points into sentences, but that was extent of the journalistic exercise. She/they even copied the shitty little jpeg profile picture of me. So, do I and the photographer get a share on any ad revenue?
You should get some of the ad revenue, at the very least. That's really gross of them to use your photo like that, and is also a copyright violation.