Reuters To Bet Business On “Ready-To-Publish”, Free News Content

Reuters announced Tuesday a plan to offer a portion of its multimedia content for free to digital publishers.

The Reuters Media Express platform would allow users to search and view content without registration, and only require a log-in to download “ready-to-publish” content on a metered basis.

While the move seems to be in response to the digital environment at large, taking line of “If you can’t beat them, join them,” or maybe in response to its rival Getty Images, their release pointed out that the decision stems from a desire to reach more Web readers with the agency’s journalism.

Below is the official press release by the news and media division of Thomson Reuters:

NEW YORK – Today Reuters, the world’s largest international multimedia news provider, announced that for the first time, it will offer a portion of Reuters multimedia news content for free to digital publishers through its publisher platform, Reuters Media Express.  As the media industry navigates the unprecedented shift to digital publishing and online news consumption, Reuters is committed to innovating and challenging conventional models in order to help publishers and expose more readers to its award-winning news content. This move marks the first time in its more than 160-year history that Reuters has offered its content free-of-charge to publishers at this scale.

Digital publishers can now download and use a limited set of free, ready-to-publish Reuters news items per month – including text, pictures, video and multimedia packages. Produced by Reuters more than 2,500 staff journalists worldwide, available content covers world news, finance, business, sports, health, entertainment politics, and much more. The move will also allow users to search and view content without registration, only requiring a log-in to download content from the Media Express site.

Steven Schwartz, Global Managing Director, said “We are committed to innovating so that even more digital publishers and bloggers can take advantage of Reuters high-quality, relevant multimedia content to engage their audiences. As the industry transforms we are willing to disrupt traditional approaches to gain insights and help news publishing flourish, while also growing our reach and our business.”

In the coming months, Reuters will continue to expand its offering to address the needs of the digital ecosystem, adding to its recently launched live service for digital publishers, Reuters Live Online, and its Content Solutions business that delivers content for top global brands and publishers that require high quality custom content for native advertising opportunities, social engagement and more.

This marks the first time in Reuters’s 160-year history to make free news content for publishers “at this scale”, in an unprecedented shift.