MCLEAN, Va., May 16 /PRNewswire/ -- Voxant, the first open distribution network for online news, today announced its Viral Syndication Network(TM), a revolutionary approach to distributing and monetizing news online. Through TheNewsRoom(TM) and its patent-pending NewsCubes(TM), Voxant will enable news organizations to push licensed news content and advertising to an estimated 43 million Web sites and 30 million blogs that attract more than half of all Internet viewers.

Voxant's NewsCubes combine fully licensed news content with advertising, branding and authentication codes that ensure quality and journalistic integrity. NewsCubes can easily be virally mashed, or distributed, to successively hundreds or thousands more Web sites and blogs through re- mashing. Whenever the mashed content is viewed, tracking also assures that the content provider receives revenue. NewsCubes can be placed directly on news sites or in TheNewsRoom, the Web destination site for Voxant's Viral Syndication Network. With its advanced search capabilities, TheNewsRoom will make it quick and easy for Web publishers, bloggers and independent journalists to browse Voxant's catalog of high quality news video, audio, print and photographs and mash the content onto their sites.

"Voxant's Viral Syndication Network solves a critical problem for traditional news broadcasters, publishers and advertisers as more and more news consumers turn to the Internet," said Voxant CEO Jeff Crigler. "Broadband adoption has created enormous changes for the news and advertising industries. The rapidly declining TV viewership and print circulation numbers translated to a loss of $3 billion in advertising revenues last year.

"Voxant is a Web 2.0 company -- through viral mashing and viral syndication, we can help news organizations and advertisers reach millions of additional Web sites and blogs on the 'long tail of the Web' that have over half the Internet audience, but very little access to quality news content and advertising."

"The broadband Internet is becoming an important, if not exclusive, source of news for millions of people, and this is a trend that will only accelerate," noted Will Richmond, president and founder of Broadband Directions LLC, a market intelligence and consulting firm specializing in broadband video. "For producers of high-quality news video, being able to reach these people through the myriad Web sites that they frequent is a business imperative. Most Web sites also now know they need to provide their users with a multimedia news experience. Technology companies that can enable this match between news producers and online destinations will come to play an increasingly vital role."

Voxant's exclusive focus on online news syndication benefits the entire news ecosystem:

* News organizations are able to sustain monetization of their rich media assets on the Internet, as well as maintain journalistic integrity and branding. * Web publishers, bloggers and independent journalists now have a way to add trusted news video, audio, text and still images, increasing Web site traffic and monetizing their sites. In addition, their own original news content can be formatted as NewsCubes available for viral mashing and monetization in TheNewsRoom. * Advertisers can now target online ads down "the long tail" of the Web. * Internet viewers looking for news will have access to more branded news content and targeted advertising, which recent studies indicate are in demand.

"We are ready to begin our beta program for Voxant's Viral Syndication Network and TheNewsRoom, and we want to open it up to news organizations, advertisers and Web publishers who are looking for a new approach to Web distribution," Crigler said. "We're starting the beta phase in preparation for an official launch later this year."

About Voxant

Voxant is the first viral syndication network for online news, unlocking vast new markets for news organizations and advertisers around the world. Voxant's self-service viral mashing(TM) technology provides a powerful new way to distribute video, audio, print or still photos, and the ads that accompany them, to any type of Internet-enabled device. Voxant distributes and promotes news for leading companies such as Reuters, MSNBC, CBS and Bloomberg through a partner network that includes Factiva, LexisNexis, the Associated Press, Thomson and Web publishers. For more information about Voxant, please visit http://www.voxant.com/.

Editor's Note: Voxant CEO Jeff Crigler is available for briefings at this week's Syndicate conference at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City. A fact sheet on relevant industry trends is available upon request.

CONTACT: Robin Lane of FitzGerald Communications, +1-202-973-2977,
voxant@fitzgerald.com, for Voxant

Web site: http://www.voxant.com/