Topix.net Weblog

March 23, 2005

New Partners, Same Topix.net

by skrenta at 12:46 AM

We're very pleased to announce that Topix.net has taken a majority
equity investment from three of the largest newspaper and media
firms in the US -- Knight Ridder, Tribune and Gannett. We see a
huge opportunity with this deal, and wanted to share why we did it,
what it means and what we're doing going forward.

First, the basics: We're taking a majority equity investment, and
will remain both editorially and structurally independent from our
new partners. I'll continue being the CEO and will report to the
board of directors, and our team will continue to develop Topix.net.

Why did we do this deal? Given our desire to grow Topix.net,
there was no better option we could imagine. Tribune, Gannett and
Knight Ridder bring enormous assets to the table. Not just financial
backing, but online audience, content assets, and deep advertiser data.
Operating alone we'd be aggressively seeking deals to work with the
various parts of T/K/G anyway.

What does this mean to our users and partners? That's the best part
of the deal. First, Topix.net will remain structurally independent
from our new partners, and will continue to develop the Topix.net
news site. As noted above, we will remain editorially independent.
We'll still be pursing syndicated and featured content deals with
new partners. But now we have the resources to put behind further
development and expansion of the Topix.net news platform, distribution
network, and advertiser services. We have our sleeves rolled up, and
hope to exceed the accomplishments of our first year in the year ahead.

Full release in extended entry.