Former MSNBC.com Editor-in-Chief Joins NowPublic, Partnership with Associated Press

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Former MSNBC.com Editor-in-Chief Joins NowPublic

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Editor's Note: Please see today's announcement of a significant new partnership with Associated Press

For reaction from the blogosphere - see this. 

NowPublic re-launches site to help users find the best user-generated news direct from the scene

Miami – February 7, 2007 – NowPublic, the leading participatory news service in the world, today named Merrill Brown to chairman of the board. In this capacity, Brown will work closely with the executive team to grow NowPublic’s business and community of contributors, as well as achieve the company’s goal – to change the way news is created and distributed by harnessing the collective wisdom of crowds. Brown is a seasoned media expert with more than 20 years working in both traditional and digital media. Additionally, NowPublic re-launched its Web site with added functionalities to help make it easier for ‘tipsters’ and ordinary people to send in their news.

“A tectonic shift is occurring in the way news is consumed and distributed,” said Brown. “NowPublic is poised to be the bridge between traditional and new media with its unique methods of crowd-sourcing news events, its extensive network and open platform. I am excited to help shape the way people participate in and consume the world’s news at this critical juncture.”

Brown was the first editor-in-chief of MSNBC.com and is a former executive with RealNetworks. He was also part of the Washington Post team from 1979 to 1985, starting as a financial reporter and became the director of business development in six short years. As one of the initial strategists responsible for creating the Courtroom Television Network, he worked on all facets of producing the cable network until its launch in 1991. After this, he was the senior vice president at RealOne Services and was in charge of all elements of the programming business.. Currently, Brown focuses on expanding MMB Media LLC, a business and media strategy consulting firm that is based in New York City, where he is the founder and principal. Brown was also selected as the national editorial director at News21, which is a partnership among five participating research universities to advance the U.S. news business by helping revitalize schools of journalism.

“Merrill was on the front lines at MSNBC.com when the Internet transitioned into the number one place to consume news and content. His involvement brings a tremendous amount of credibility and expertise to our organization as he has already experienced a major shift in media,” said Leonard Brody, CEO of NowPublic. “His contribution will help us to continue building the next-generation wire service such as Reuters.”

The new version of NowPublic introduces several new features including:

• Highlight Tool: Users can highlight Web content that they consider news, publish and link it to NowPublic. Contributors can also simultaneously have their posts published to their blogs. When NowPublic members post photos and videos related to these stories users blogs automatically get updated with the new footage.
• Crowd-Sourcing Tool: Accredited contributors can gain access to eye witnesses and include photos and videos from the scene of the story by tapping into the community’s stream of material.
• Tip Jar: A NowPublic ‘tipster,’ someone who witnesses a news event, can report the tip to NowPublic. Solid tips could earn you an actual monetary tip.
• Hyper Local News: NowPublic can recognize a reader’s IP address and bring up local news according to the readers location.
• Build Your Own News Bureau: Readers can define a set of favorite contributors and channels to personalize their news gathering experience.

About NowPublic
NowPublic is a crowd-sourced, participatory news network which mobilizes an army of reporters to cover the events that define our world. In 12 short months, the company has become the largest news organization of its kind with over 60,000 reporters in over 140 countries. This year The Guardian named NowPublic one of the top 5 most useful news sites on the Web. The company has received funding from Brightspark, New York Angels and GrowthWorks.

For More Information:
Alicia diVittorio
Sparkpr on behalf of NowPublic
(415) 321-1875
alicia@sparkpr.com

Amy Burke Bessette
Sparkpr on behalf of NowPublic
(415) 321-1873
amy@sparkpr.com