NewsML - The new content syndication format

NewsML - Das neue Content Syndication Format

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The syndicators are dieing off. The bankruptcies have swept 4Content, Tanto, Contonomy, Kontorvisions and 1-Syndicate from the market. Do companies and portals now have to fear for their content for websites, internets and intranets? By no means. Tow new tendencies become apparent on the horizon: agencies offer content free of charge and with NewsML they can deliver the news directly to their customers. Through these two tendencies some tasks of the content syndicators become obsolete.

What is NewsML?

NewsML is an invented word, which combines "News" and "XML". As special XML-format the transmission standard NewsML is specialised in the application of news exchange. NewsML is to deliver content automatically and in a multimedia way from content providers to customers. In this, there are respectively own description fields for source, date, author, title and other classifications. NewsML was adopted by IPTC (www.iptc.org) in October 2000. In the IPTC working group were almost all important content suppliers - above all the German and international news agencies.

Essential for XML/NewsML is the quantum leap towards HTML. Whereas the time-honoured HTML only displays contents, XML structures these contents similar to a database. With XML the site description language is completed by the integrated structuring of data. Only by this information or news can be automatically processed.

However, data are often differently structured for each task and each customer and are therefore differently implemented in XML. Thus news have been stored and transmitted in different formats. For each connection of individual information sources special conversion regulations were necessary. The standardised NewsML-format now offers a real platform-independent exchange of news and is organised in such a way that it fulfils almost all conceivable demands on a standard for the exchange of news. In contrast to the NIFT-standard (a slightly out-of-date industry standard for the exchange of news) NewsML is particularly prepared for the multimedia age.

The special features of NewsML

Core of the NewsML are NewsItems, which can contain different media formats: texts, graphics, video etc. Since NewsML is media independent it is not only suitable for the transmission of TV-news but also for simple texts - in the same format. The NewsItems can be provided with meta information, which makes it possible for applications to understand the relationships between the NewsItems. By this, content can be distributed fully automatically - without any revision of editors or programmers.

All news are categorised in the NewsML-standard according to a general definition. For special tasks - like implemented by the NetFederation for one of their customers - this general catalogue can be adapted in a compatible way.

In detail NewsML offers the following advantages:

• The transport of different media formats is possible
• Updates and updating pursuance of news are facilitated
• The archiving and distribution of news is facilitated
• There are mentioned relationships between NewsItems, which for example can be used for the personalisation
• The structure of news consists of individual text parts, which are related to each other
• Text modules of news can be variably displayed or cut out (for certain stages of confidence)
• Duration of validity, topicality and priority of news can be transmitted
• Through the platform-independent exchange of news the distribution to technologically different formats and channels is possible

Current market situation

In previous concepts NewsML was only applied for the exchange of news between news agencies and users (intranets, portals). The German news agencies, which almost all want to completely offer their content in NewsML this year, belong to the most important suppliers of NewsML. The actuator here is Reuters, which has provided a powerful showcase in the internet: http://newsshowcase.rtrlondon.co.uk.

The other news agencies in Germany mostly have XML-based systems and are already able to parse NewsML. Currently news agencies also consider NewsML as a technology which has its suppliers and partners communicated automatically with the agency. At some German agencies presently also a multimedia trend can be seen: news are to be offered from one hand as text, video and picture. For applying this technology at the customer one still waits for further requests in this area. However, in all probability these will come soon.

03/2004, Wolfgang Sender

Wolfgang Sender is a business development manager at the NetFederation Interactive Media GmbH, Cologne.

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