Newswise — Newswise introduces commenting on news releases starting September 1, 2010. Newswise is the first news release distribution service to incorporate public commenting into an early phase of the news process.
News releases have been visible to the public since Newswise introduced the first online news release distribution service in 1992. Newswise was designed primarily to serve journalists and continues to do that. With this new commenting feature, Newswise is taking the logical next step to integrate the phenomenon of social media more fully with the news process.
As social media has become ubiquitous, users are accustomed to commenting almost universally as part of the democratization of information. Now, the inclusion of commenting on news releases may also influence the natural history of news in a variety of interesting, unpredictable ways. Public participation by knowledge workers and thought leaders, for example, may enhance the news process by creating new outcomes. Their comments might add new information, illuminate different story lines, provide context, and reveal public interest in a story.
Newswise will continue to provide special services and maintain a special relationship with journalists. For example, reporters may comment and post links to their work, allowing readers to track further development of the story, and Newswise can drive traffic to reporters’ websites.
Newswise will be striving to create a community culture of professional, collaborative and civil discussion. As Clay Shirky suggests in his book Cognitive Surplus, we will have principles of governance, including moderation and terms of use, to elicit “our better natures.” We have faith in our community of users; civil behavior is consistent with their natures.
The current commenting feature is a beta release with future improvements planned. For the last 18 years Newswise has introduced many firsts, including a full-text searchable archive of news releases, and the first embedded images and videos in concert with virtual news releases. We continue to innovate the technology and improve the news process.
If you have any questions or would like to share your feedback about the Newswise commenting feature, please contact us at [email protected].
*Commentariat, and here
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