Salon.com (Nasdaq: SALN, www.salon.com), one of the leading Internet media companies, today introduces a major initiative and new site within the Salon.com network -- Politics2000.com, located at http://www.politics2000.com.
Politics2000.com will provide Internet users a destination for breaking news on the presidential election, as well as congressional, state and local races and special ballot initiatives.
Politics2000.com will feature:
* Salon.com's award-winning political coverage and breaking campaign news
* A comprehensive directory of content, searchable by candidates, issues and key races
* Daily interactive polls
* A weekly Politics2000.com newsletter
* A calendar of major political events
* Links to CBS News coverage, as well as other news on the Web
* Streaming video of C-Span's Campaign 2000 television coverage , provided by technology leader Virage
As part of the new directory structure, visitors to Politics2000.com can search past and current Salon News articles by topic. As an example, a search for "campaign finance" will yield all Salon News articles related to that subject. Similar searches can be executed for any of the major candidates or states where major congressional races are being fought.
Politics2000.com will leverage Salon.com's award-winning editorial operation to cover the campaign year from its bureaus in Washington, D.C., New York and San Francisco. Adding to an already impressive list of reporters and columnists, which includes Joe Conason, David Horowitz, Camille Paglia, Arianna Huffington and Salon.coms own Jake Tapper, the online network recently hired former New York Times editor Kerry Lauerman as a senior political editor for Salon News.
Over the last several years, Salon.com and its news site, Salon News, have received numerous awards and much critical acclaim for probing and insightful coverage of major news stories, such as the Clinton Impeachment, the war in Kosovo and the Columbine school shootings. To assure that its reporting reaches the widest audience, Salon.com will also distribute articles from Politics2000.com through its major Internet partners, including America Online (AOL) where Salon.com is a content provider and Anchor Tenant, as well as its syndication partners United Features Syndicate and Isyndicate.
"The Internet will play a major role for both the candidates and the American voters and we hope to become one of the most talked about and visited sites." said Michael O'Donnell, Salon.com's CEO & President. "By positioning Politics2000.com as a destination site, we hope to attract new visitors and revenue streams to the Salon.com network."
Further enhancing Politics2000.com and accelerating Salon.com's broadband strategy, is a partnership with Virage, a leader in the development of searchable and interactive video on the Internet. Delivering the latest television coverage of the campaign trail to
Internet users, Virage and C-Span have created a Video Search Engine that enables visitors to search and view C-Span's Campaign 2000 coverage. By selecting one of the issues and/or candidates in the Virage section of Politics2000, users can view related footage without leaving the site.
"We continue to expand our broadband offerings and move towards media convergence," commented ODonnell. "With the launch of Politics2000.com we have shown our commitment to making Salon.com one of the most valuable resources on the Web."
On its inaugural day, Monday, January 10, 2000, Politics2000.com features quotes and predictions from a cross-section of politicians, celebrities, newsmakers and digerati, including U.S. Representatives Barney Frank (D-Ma), Bob Barr (R-Ga), J.C. Watts (R-Ok), Al Franken, David Duke, Rosa Parks, Larry Flynt, Lucianne Goldberg, Bill Press, former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, Apple Computer co-founder Steve Wozniak and Esther Dyson.
"The millenial election will undoubtedly be the media event of the
year, complete with the ordinary and extraordinary antics of
politicos and pundits alike," added David Talbot, Salon.com Chairman
and Editor-in-Chief. "Expect Salon.com's Politics2000.com, to
contribute thought-provoking takes and a healthy dose of attitude on
all the players, events and issues."
Check out the Salon.com's Politics2000 at: http://www.politics2000.com.
ABOUT SALON.COM
Salon.com (Nasdaq: SALN; www.salon.com; AOL Keyword: Salon) is an
Internet media company that produces a network of 10 original
content sites and two communities -- Table Talk and The Well.
Salon.com was founded by David Talbot, former editor of the San
Francisco Examiner. Premier advertisers and sponsors of Salon.com
include IBM, Lexus, Microsoft, Virgin.com, Intel, DrKoop.com,
barnesandnoble.com and EDS. The network has relationships with 275
advertising sponsors. In September 1999, the site had 1.9 million
unique visitors.
Salon.com recently announced an equity and content agreement with
Rainbow Media Holdings, Inc., a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems
Corporation and NBC to develop online content and Salon.com's first
television series, scheduled to be aired on Bravo Networks in 2000.
This month, Salon.com announced a content agreement with Red Hat, a provider of Open Source and Linux software.
Salon.com also distributes its content to leading online and
Internet portals such as America Online (AOL), where it is an Anchor Tenant.
AOL also holds an equity position in Salon.com. Other Internet sites that carry Salon.com content on a regular basis include Lycos, Go.com, Alta Vista, Reuters, CNN.com and Cnet. In the wireless and handheld arenas, Salon.com has signed content distribution agreements with both AvantGo and Rocket eBooks. Salon.com also syndicates through United Features Syndicate. The network has an e-commerce ticketing and advertising sponsorship sales agreement with CultureFinder.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements concerning advertising and traffic growth that involve risks and uncertainties including, among others, advertising sales revenue in the year 2000, acceptance and effectiveness of advertising, growth in use of the Internet, Salon.com's limited operating history, anticipated losses, the unpredictability of its future revenues, competition, risks associated with system development and operation risks, management of potential growth and risks of new business areas, business combinations and strategic alliances. Actual results could differ materially from those discussed. More information about factors that potentially could affect Salon.com's financial results are included in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. All forward-looking statements are based on information available to the company on the date hereof, and the Company assumes no obligation to update such statements.
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