Topix.net, the automated news aggregation service, has taken on investment from Knight-Ridder, Gannett, and the Tribune Co. The idea is to gain some financial backing to grow the service but also to gain access to content from media companies that they were negotiating with anyway. I think each of these companies look at Topix as a distribution channel which is a wonderful validation of this business model of having third parties re-package snippets of content for ad-supported redistribution.
Remaining editorially independent is key and there are assurances from Topix that they will remain so. I guess I feel much better that it’s a triumvirate each owning 25% of Topix and not a single media entity. The will need to learn to share.
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