When Michael Jackson died, the first source to report the news was a blog, TMZ.com. When Anthony Weiner tweeted inappropriate pictures of himself, the story began to spread thanks to a conservative political blogger, Andrew Breitbart. As Rita Braver of CBS News reports in a recent article entitled Welcome to the Blogosphere, “What a clear sign of the growing clout of bloggers.”

Earlier this month, I wrote a post here on the Newstex blog about the 30% decline in tweets from U.S. Congressional members following ‘Weingergate.’ The online conversation is both starting and spreading through user-generated content, and bloggers have become a key component of today’s communications stream.

However, as Braver points out, “There doesn’t seem to be any way that anything catches up with bloggers, or any way of addressing whether the blogger really does something or says something that’s not true.” She makes a valid point. However, there is a large number of bloggers who exercise journalistic integrity and work very hard to publish Authoritative Content that people can trust.

The term “blog” became akin to a dirty word a few years ago. Today, it’s making a comeback as more traditional news organizations, companies, universities, and other respected people and groups launch their own blogs. Some of these online publishers might choose not to call their blogs by that name, but as William Shakespeare’s Juliet spoke, “a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

Authoritative Content blogs are here to stay and they’re getting noticed and getting the positive recognition they deserve as reliable sources written by experts. It’s time that the larger population learned that not all content is created equal — and that goes for blogs, too.

What do you think? Are all blogs created equal? Leave a comment and share your thoughts.

What is Newstex Authoritative Content? Joelle Norwood, The Media Mama, asked Newstex President Larry Schwartz that question at the May 2011 BlogWorld and New Media Expo East in New York City, and he packed tons of information into a 1 minute and 40 second video shot by Joelle on the Blog World exhibit floor!

I love Larry’s reference in the video to Newstex as a “content pusher” that pushes content from Authoritative Content publishers to respected distributors who deliver it directly to audiences who need it to do their jobs and are unlikely to find it otherwise. It sums up Newstex’s message at BlogWorld and New Media Expo East very succinctly, which was — We’ll pay YOU to grow YOUR audience. It really is that simple.

In the video interview, Larry also mentioned some ways that end-users use the content syndicated through Newstex Authoritative Content as well as how important factual archives are since end-users might search for content from years ago when they’re conducting research. Business, financial, and legal content are just three of the hot topics that end-users are looking for on a daily basis through Newstex Authoritative Content.

You can check out the full video interview below.

Be sure to watch Joelle’s playlist of BlogWorld videos on her YouTube channel. The videos are short and interesting!

For the second year in a row, ProPublica (whose content is syndicated through Newstex) has won a Pulitzer Prize!

ProPublica reporter Sheri Fink won a 2010 Pulitzer Prize for Investigative Reporting, and now, ProPublica reporters Jesse Eisinger and Jake Bernstein won a 2011 Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting for their stories on how some Wall Street bankers delayed and worsened the financial crisis in an effort to make themselves richer at the expense of their clients and the companies they worked for. This is the first Pulitzer Prize awarded for a group of stories that was published online, not in print.

ProPublica is a non-profit  news organization devoted to reform through journalism. ProPublica reports on stories with a “moral force” with particular focus on stories about “abuse of power and failure to uphold the public trust.”

The organization’s work has been recognized with numerous awards in addition to the two Pulitzer Prize wins. So far in 2011, ProPublica has won two George Polk Awards, an American Society of News Editors Batten Medal, two Investigative Reporters and Editors Awards, and two awards from the Society of News Design. ProPublica was also a National Magazine Award finalist in 2011.

Please join Newstex in congratulating ProPublica, Jesse Eisinger, and Jake Bernstein on their great work and Pulitizer Prize win!

The success of your online video content comes in part from the manner in which you upload your videos.  If you upload your videos to YouTube, the most popular online video site, then you’re in luck because Mark Robertson of Reel SEO put together an excellent presentation filled with tips to help you optimize your YouTube videos.

Much of your YouTube success comes from making sure people can find your videos.  Mark offers the following tips for uploading your video content to YouTube, so you start out on the right foot:

• HD-quality
• 16:9 aspect ratio recommended (4:3) letterboxed
• Resolution: HD = 1280×720 or 1080p; Other = 640×360 (16:9) or 480X360 (4:3)
• MP4 file format
• .h264 video compression
• AAC or MP3 audio compression
• Frames per second: 30
• Maximum length: 10:59 (recommend 2-3 minutes)
• Maximum file size: 2 GB

Mark also warns that YouTube success encompasses far more than just titles, keywords, and metadata.  Check out his complete presentation below to learn more.

If you’re not already using the tips Mark offers in his presentation, then start using them now to maximize your online video content success going forward.

Did you know that Newstex is the only content provider to offer editorially-selected Twitter feeds from, news, business, political, and independent Twitter publishers, including all Twitter feeds from the members of the U.S. Congress and Senate, U.S. Federal Agencies, and Canadian Parliament.

Now, the Twitter feeds of over 200 British Members of Parliament are available through Newstex Authoritative Content syndication, too!  These Twitter feeds include members from the Labour Party, Conservative Party, Liberal Democrats and other parties.

Twitter has become an essential tool to communicate with people locally and around the world with the immediacy and reach of the platform attracting people from all walks of life.  By adding the Twitter feeds of British Members of Parliament to Newstex Authoritative Content, Newstex offers another way that people can get quick and easy access to reliable information they need to do their jobs rather than continually weeding through the clutter and falsehoods that can be found on Twitter.

Image: Flickr

The Oscars of social media — the 3rd Annual Shorty Awards — is now open for nominations to honor the best short-form content publishers on the Web.

This year’s Shorty Awards include new categories and separate industry awards for companies that shine on Twitter and Facebook.  There are even new special awards for the real-time photo of the year, foursquare mayor of the year, foursquare location of the year, and microblog of the year on Tumblr.

Be sure to read the complete Shorty Awards rules before you submit a nomination, and if you’re nominated for a Shorty Award, don’t forget to promote yourself to get more votes using the digital campaign kid.

We hope to see some of the Authoritative Content publishers who syndicate their Twitter content through Newstex nominated and winning Shorty Awards this year at the awards ceremony in New York City (details to be announced)!

You can follow the link to submit Shorty Awards nominations or to learn more about syndicating your Twitter content through Newstex.

In a new post published on Branding Strategy Insider (which is syndicated through Newstex Authoritative Content), writer Steve Rivkin shares some interesting statistics about domain names in an interview with VeriSign Inc.’s Assistant General Manager for Naming Services Pat Kane.

According to the statistics, the following statistics highlight the world of domain names in 2010:

• Domain names have grown 7% in one year by 13.3 million.
• More than 41,000 new domain names are added each day (based on average daily totals during the third quarter of 2010).
• At the end of the third quarter of 2010, there were nearly 202 million domain name registrations.
• .com and .net domain names equated to 103 million of all domains registered.
• It is estimated by VeriSign that 88% of .com and .net domain names have live websites with content.
• Country-level domain names increased by 2.4% over the prior year to 79.2 million demonstrating growth internationally.

These are fascinating statistics that show no signs of slowing down anytime in the near future. It seems hard to remember a time (not so long ago) when .com was the only viable domain name option and actually having a website was a big deal.  Today, it’s a necessity and having a website is something anyone can do thanks to the free and easy to use tools of the social Web.

It makes you wonder where the state of the Internet will be five or ten years from now.  How will it grow and change?  Certainly, mobility will be key.  Will the desktop computer be antiquated by 2020?  Only time will tell.

What do you think the future holds for domain names and the Internet?  Leave a comment and share your predictions.

You can read the complete interview between Steve Rivkin and Pat Kane on Branding Strategy Insider.

Image: stock.xchng

It could be said that 2010 was the year of content.  Social media was no longer the new kid on the block and people from around the world and from nearly every demographic segment were adopting the tools of social media to communicate, share and promote.

In 2010, content was moving into the spotlight, setting the stage for 2011 as the year of valuable, relevant authoritative content.

2011 is the year of authoritative content.

2011 is almost upon us, so let’s take a look at some of the authoritative content trends coming in the new year so you can position your content, business, and brand for maximum success.

1. No value = no point.

2011 will show some separation in the clutter of online content.  If your content doesn’t add value to people’s lives and the online conversation, there will be little point in publishing it.  Authoritative content that adds value will stand out from that clutter.

2. Communities, not segments.

Authoritative content will be created for the engaged online communities that consume that content.  In 2011, no longer will simple demographic segmentation and content targeting be enough.  Instead, publishers must match their authoritative content to the communities of people who consume that content, discuss it, share it, and make it their own.

3. Authenticity matters.

A core imperative for successful social media marketing has always been a need for honesty.  In 2011, more and more content will move from a corporate, dictatorial tone to a personable, trustworthy voice.  The authoritative content publishers who are perceived as real people with real thoughts and opinions will rise to the top in terms of developing powerful brand images and loyal brand advocates.

4. Exposure is essential.

Thanks to social media marketing, many people have already begun to understand that allowing your conversations and content to flow freely to audiences is more important than trying to keep that content hidden behind a fee or email capture form.  Even authoritative content benefits immensely if it is allowed to spread freely.

5. Accuracy counts.

In 2010, people learned that the social web is a great place to get information on breaking news before traditional news outlets can deliver it.  However, with that speed comes inaccuracy because people don’t always verify the accuracy of the information they post on Twitter or Facebook.  Even traditional media outlets have been fooled by inaccurate tweets.  In 2011, authoritative content will require accuracy.

What do you think is coming for content, specifically authoritative content in 2011?  Leave a comment and share your predictions.

Image: stock.xchng

A new book by Ann Handley of MarketingProfs and C.C. Chapman of Managing the Gray, Content Rules, teaches readers how to create blogs, podcasts, videos, ebooks, webinars and more that engage customers and ignite your business.

Content Rules is part of David Meerman Scott’s highly popular New Rules series and teaches you how to write stories that interest people the same way that journalists do.  Content strategy and tactics are provided as are numerous case studies.  It’s a great read for anyone who wants to get started in creating content to build a business or enhance their existing content-related efforts.

The authors are seasoned content professionals.  Ann is the chief content officer of MarketingProfs, a widely popular marketing website, and her content appears on sites like Mashable and The Huffington Post.  C.C. is the host of a successful new media podcast, Managing the Gray.  Together, their years of experience in the social web space enable them to put together a usable guide to effective content creation and publishing.

Both the MarketingProfs site and MarketingProfs Twitter stream are syndicated through Newstex Authoritative Content as is C.C.’s Managing the Gray podcast, so Ann and C.C.’s reputations as publishers of respected and trustworthy content are well established.  If you want to build upon your content strategy, check out Content Rules and learn from the experts.

New research by eMarketer reveals that corporate blogging has gone mainstream with 34% of U.S. companies using blogs for marketing purposes — a number that is predicted to grow to 43% by 2012.  That’s a big jump from just 16% of U.S. companies using blogs for marketing purposes back in 2007.  Check out the statistics from the study in the chart below.

Corporations are using blogs for many different reasons, including communications, lead generation, brand building, marketing, and customer service.  The analysts at eMarketer acknowledge that the use of “faster” forms of social media communication and marketing (such as Twitter and Facebook) have caused the growth of more time-intensive blogging activities to slow down.  However, corporations still publish blogs because they deliver a few benefits that other social media tools don’t provide, such as greater control, integration, more in-depth content publishing, and more varied opportunities for creative communications and marketing.  With the current trend toward content marketing for long-term sustainable growth, it’s not surprising that corporations are still finding blogs to be a highly useful medium for indirect and direct marketing.

For corporations, business blogs are also an important source to publish critical news and real-time information that journalists and researchers might be looking for.  A survey by PRWeek and PR Newswire conducted in April 2010 revealed that over 30% of journalists use company blogs when conducting research for a story, and nearly 30% use general blogs in their research efforts.

As Paul Verna, eMarketer senior analyst explains:

“This confluence between established and emerging media is making blogging an integral part of the news cycle.  As consumers assimilate blogs into their media consumption, they are less likely to distinguish between a blog and a traditional news outlet.”

This is a concept that Newstex can attest to — just take a look at the authoritative bloggers and content publishers who syndicate their content through Newstex to see clear examples of the high quality and expertise of “non-traditional” new media sources.