October 5, 2010

ScribbleLive enables news organizations
to deliver information in real time

Journalists can now report story elements from email, SMS, Twitter, voice call

ScribbleLive has launched the latest version of its live content management system to help journalists spread news in real time. Social media services deliver information at a rapid pace and ScribbleLive enables media companies to harness the immediacy of these technologies while maintaining the control required in the newsroom to cover developing news events in a new style that meets the needs of its audience.

Fast, engaging and collaborative, ScribbleLive is a comprehensive  live CMS  platform that enables media companies and large organizations such as  Reuters and Hearst Television to report on developing news stories like natural disasters,  sporting events  and election results online in an entirely new way. Journalists can now report story elements from email, SMS, Twitter, voice call or the ScribbleLive web interface whether they are in the newsroom or out in the field. The result is dynamic content that provides real-time updates, including multimedia, to readers as the event unfolds.

The event pages reside on ScribbleLive's servers, but otherwise maintain a seamless appearance with the organization's existing website from the perspective of both visitors and search engines. After the event, the searchable webpages remain so readers can look back on the way the story unfolded, a unique opportunity to see a "rough draft" of history as it was first written.

"People want news delivered quickly. They are turning to social media sites such as Twitter to access breaking information, rather than waiting for news outlets to push stories through editorial review," said   Michael De Monte, co-founder and chief executive officer of ScribbleLive. "ScribbleLive changes the traditional linear flow of the newsroom to a more dynamic, collaborative process that empowers real-time reporting and audience engagement while ensuring editorial control and journalistic integrity. With our tool, journalists are able to tell stories in a completely new way."

This latest version of ScribbleLive offers powerful new features that:

• Let journalists leverage mobile devices to create stories in the field via enhanced publishing capabilities through SMS and voicemail, as well as mobile apps for iPhone and BlackBerry
• Better harness information from Twitter with advanced filters
• Employ SSL to improve data protection
• Allow syndication of posts to multiple web properties
• Lay the groundwork for a revolutionary new way of telling stories and engaging with readers online

A number of media outlets already rely on ScribbleLive, Global News, the online news arm of Canwest's Global Television Network, used  ScribbleLive to cover the G20 Summit  that was recently held in   Toronto. Highlights of the summit coverage included:

• Reader-submitted protestor photos
• A dramatic audio report on rioting in the streets
• Videos of police creating barricades
• Text updates from around the summit

"Globalnews.ca's live coverage of the G20 broke historic new ground for storytelling in broadcast and online journalism," said David Skok, managing editor for Globalnews.ca. "ScribbleLive gave us the opportunity to showcase the depth of our talented reporting teams in real-time using multimedia via one-touch reporting. We have realized our vision of unifying the digital and traditional broadcast newsrooms, thanks to ScribbleLive."

The Score, the broadcaster that delivers interactive sports reporting online and via the popular ScoreMobile iPhone app, uses the ScribbleLive platform to report real-time scores for the more than 300 sports teams it covers while empowering superfans to become the play-by-play commentators.

"ScribbleLive has truly helped us enhance our product. For our mobile sports app, live blogs have been a crucial differentiator. Sports fans love the immediacy of the blogger's game description and appreciate being able to submit their comments. ScribbleLive's system is fast and reliable, and they've made it remarkably easy to fully embed in our offering," said Dale Fallon, director of mobile, Score Media.