Voxant Launches TheNewsRoom and Campaign2008, Targets Web for Viral Distribution of News and Campaign Video

2007-03-15 17:32:52 -

RESTON, Va., March 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Voxant, the Viral Syndication Network (VSN), today officially launched TheNewsRoom(TM) (http://www.thenewsroom.com/), its premiere site for fully licensed content from 165 news organizations. TheNewsRoom features a revolutionary viral mashing(TM) technology and an advertising-based revenue model that pays content originators and participating Web sites and blogs. In addition, Voxant announced Campaign2008, a new channel in TheNewsRoom for campaign videos and news.

"In TheNewsRoom, Web publishers and bloggers use our viral mashing technology to get free, licensed news video, text, photo and audio content and legally

embed it on their sites, avoiding the copyright infringement hassles they often encounter elsewhere," said Jeff Crigler, CEO of Voxant. "With Campaign2008, we're providing campaigns with the same viral mashing technology and the ability to track, control and target their content."

Voxant will unveil a Campaign2008 channel of TheNewsRoom later this week with videos from current presidential candidates. Unlike other sites that are allowing national campaigns to post campaign videos, TheNewsRoom enables campaigns to monitor the viral distribution of their videos to see where they are viewed and how often, as well as block videos from being viewed on undesirable sites. Crigler will demonstrate Campaign2008 at the 14th Annual Politics Online Conference being held March 15-16 in Washington, D.C.

TheNewsRoom quietly opened for business in November to allow ingestion of content, site development and systems testing, Crigler said. "We've been signing content deals and doing business, but without actively promoting or driving traffic to TheNewsRoom. Yet we already have more than 1,600 Web sites and blogs signed up to mash our news stories and feeds, with the three largest sites accounting for a combined total of more than 25 million unique visitors per month. We currently have over 150,000 news stories available for distribution and are adding more every day."

The Associated Press (AP), Reuters, Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), McClatchy-Tribune Information Services (MCT), The Denver Post, GulfCoastNews.com and World Championship Sports Network (WCSN) were among the first news organizations to make their content available through TheNewsRoom in a bid to increase their reach to Web sites and blogs on the "long tail" of the Web.

"Voxant really does offer a convenient way to reach the millions of people who are interested in a niche selection of AP's content. TheNewsRoom is a vehicle for AP to allow non-traditional customers to post individual stories, photos and video clips while maintaining control over its intellectual property," said Jane Seagrave, vice president and director of AP Digital.

Voxant's proprietary viral mashing technology allows content to be "mashed" from TheNewsRoom and legally embedded on Web sites and blogs, where it can then be redistributed to an infinite number of additional sites. It also employs a tracking system and dashboard that records where the content has traveled on the Web and how often it is viewed. All content is accompanied by advertising, which provides revenue to content owners and sites where content is published. The importance of viral syndication was addressed in a recent JupiterResearch report commissioned by Voxant, "Newspapers and Broadcasters: Developing on Online Strategy," in December 2006.

"Rather than rely on a small number of aggregators, content providers should seek out opportunities to get their content and brand in front of as many audiences as practical," wrote Jupiter analysts Barry Parr and Peter Sargent. "A viral syndication strategy will be key to such an effort. Emerging viral models allow content providers to push their assets to hundreds or thousands of niche content sites and blogs on the Web, monetizing them through advertising and insuring their brands and copyrights are protected."

Web publishers using TheNewsRoom's content range from large sites that get more than 18 million page views per month to small blogs. Blogger Eric Friesen recently reviewed TheNewsRoom for BlogCritics.org and provided the following assessment: "What's my bottom line on Voxant and TheNewsRoom? I believe that this is an enormous step toward the future of mainstream news, and Voxant's partner companies should be applauded for taking it. The tumultuous blending of old and new media that is playing itself out in the headlines these days will not end soon, but TheNewsRoom has me feeling more optimistic than I've been in a long time."

TheNewsRoom offers video, print, audio and photo news content in the categories of U.S., international, business, political, health, science, sports, entertainment and lifestyle news, as well as reference and press releases. Currently, individual news stories as well as news feeds of top stories are available.

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Voxant, the Viral Syndication Network(TM), unlocks new markets for news organizations and advertisers around the world by helping them get their news content found, played, and paid for on the millions of Web sites and blogs that comprise the "long tail" of the Web. Through TheNewsRoom(TM) (http://www.thenewsroom.com/) and its unique viral mashing(TM) technology, Voxant distributes and promotes news from more than 165 credible, licensed content sources. Network affiliates include the Associated Press, Reuters, McClatchy-Tribune Information Agence France-Press, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the Denver Post, Newsvine and HowStuffWorks, as well as a variety of Web publishers and bloggers. For more information, please visit http://www.voxant.com/

Source: Voxant