Current, the world´s peer-to-peer news and information network,
today announced the launch of a new affiliate program that will
further expand the company´s content reach and offerings globally. The
first two companies to join this venture are The Guardian, and
award-winning US online news and entertainment website, Salon.
Current´s content affiliate program is intended to give top media
brands more exposure to Current´s core audience of 18-34-year-olds via
a new vlogging format on both Current TV and current.com, while also
providing media brands with high-quality Current-produced vlogs for
their own websites.
Journalists from The Guardian who will be producing vlogs for
Current include Dave Hill, John Harris, Seth Freedman and Anna
Pickard. Salon correspondents who will be contributing include Alex
Koppelman, Tracy Clark-Flory, Rebecca Traister and Farhad Manjoo.
Current will package a single vlog each day for television
supplied by correspondents from The Guardian and Salon as well as
create a web-friendly version that will live on Current.com, Salon.com
and Guardian.co.uk. Vlogs on Current.com that generate dialogue with
its online community have the potential to be repackaged for Current
TV enabling them to contribute to topics initiated by The Guardian and
Salon journalists.
"Current is committed to meeting the ever-evolving needs of our
young adult audience, so it is important for us to align with brands
that are well respected media leaders," said Joanna Drake Earl,
president of new media for Current. "This program gives journalists
and bloggers from other established content providers, such as The
Guardian and Salon, an opportunity to be seen and heard within
Current´s community, while we engage them in conversation with our
online and TV audiences about subjects that they are covering
everyday."
Emily Bell, Director of Digital Content, Guardian News & Media,
added: "When we were approached by Current TV we knew that their
profile and outlook was highly compatible with the Guardian. We are
very excited about the partnership and think it will bring our
journalism to a wider audience and help us showcase our best blogging
talent in a video format."
Salon´s partnership with Current is a cornerstone of its new
initiatives, according to Salon Editor-in-Chief, Joan Walsh. "We love
Current´s commitment to two things: to reach a younger audience, and
to put the tools of content creation in the hands of that audience,"
said Walsh. "Clearly, Salon shares those values. This partnership
offers us a way to introduce video, and Current TV, to Salon´s
audience, and to introduce Salon to Current´s audience."
Notes to Editors:
About Current:
The station was founded by Al Gore, the former Vice President of
the United States, and entrepreneur Joel Hyatt. Academy Award Winner
Gore describes the channel as the world´s peer-to-peer news and
information network, with programming that ranges from the hottest
trends in technology, fashion, music and celebrity, to pressing issues
concerning politics, finance and the environment.
The schedule - which is made up of short form, non-fiction,
programme "pods" (averaging three to eight minutes) - is dictated by
the viewers (via the Current website) who have the power to vote or
"green light" programmes onto the network.
Current´s innovative VC2 (Viewer Created Content) concept promotes
viewer contributions and the network pays these VC2 producers when
their films are shown on the channel. Everything on the network is
open to viewer participation. Current invented Viewer Created Ad
Messages (VCAM) and regularly features promotional spots created by
its viewers.
One of the keys to Current´s success is in the variety of its
programming. In addition to VC2, viewers of the network will see short
form Vanguard Journalism pods that are reinventing TV journalism for a
new generation of viewers. Current has been a huge success story in
the U.S.A, where it is broadcast in 40 million homes, more than
doubling the number of subscribers in its first year, and reaches 11
million homes in the UK. The channel has picked up numerous
programming awards, and recent pods such as Current´s ´PC Versus Mac´
spoof have topped the global viral charts.
The channel broadcasts on Sky (channel 193) and Virgin Media (155)
in the UK. Visit the Current website at www.current.com
About The Guardian
The Guardian launched its network of websites, Guardian Unlimited,
in 1999 and is recognised as the UK´s most popular newspaper website.
For the past three years it has been voted the best newspaper on the
web at the 2007 Webby Awards. Guardian Unlimited recorded record
traffic of 18,407,758 unique users in October 2007 (ABCe). The
highest-ever monthly user figure for a UK newspaper site.
About Salon
Salon, an award-winning online news and entertainment Web site,
combines original investigative stories, breaking news, provocative
personal essays and highly respected criticism along with popular
staff-written blogs about politics, technology and culture, as well as
video and audio podcasts. The winner of multiple Webby and Online News
Association awards, Salon is an Internet pioneer that made the
transition to Web 2.0, with vibrant audience participation through its
automated letters to the editor, along with its long-time Table Talk
and Well communities. Thanks to those new additions to its traditional
offerings, Salon has doubled its traffic in the last two years and
plans to roll out many new features in the crucial 2008 election year.
