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NSnewstv.com partners with RushmoreDrive.com

POSTED: August 27, 2008, 1:23 am

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NS Media LLC, the parent company of NSnewstv.com, and Black Web Enterprises, Inc., parent company of RushmoreDrive.com, has entered into a creative partnership to develop and produce news programming targeting the Black company. The two companies will kick off their collaboration at the launch celebration of NSnewstv.com on August 28 in Newark, New Jersey.

NSnewstv.com is the successor to the NorthStarNetwork.com, a public affairs website that was launched in 2002 to critical acclaim. The new site is focused primarily on news, business, public affairs and archival content of interest to the Black community. RushmoreDrive.com is the first Internet search engine of its kind created to identify and tag content that is culturally significant to the global Black experience. Rushmore’s parent company is a subsidiary of IAC, a leading new media company that claims some 54 leading Internet brands, including LendingTree, Match.com, Ask.com and Ticketmaster.

Johnny Taylor, President and CEO of RushmoreDrive.com, noted, “As the first search engine of its kind, RushmoreDrive.com is redefining the contours of the Internet. We see tremendous value in our creative partnership with NSnewstv.com. Its editorial focus will complement RushmoreDrive.com by bringing a Black perspective to news and public affairs that will then populate our search engine to the benefit of web users. In the months to come we anticipate producing high quality and relevant programming with NSnewstv.com.”

One of the first projects of the new partnership will be the development of a daily news roundup that will be webcast over NSnewstv.com and RushmoreDrive.com. The program will be based on Rushmore’s “Daily Drive” feature and will carry the same name when it debuts in the fall. “The Daily Drive” will feature news hosts who will give their spin on the top stories of the day, comment on current or breaking news, and introduce “on the street” interviews with Black Americans from all walks of life providing their take on world events. The show will be produced in Newark with segments from Charlotte, North Carolina, home of RushmoreDrive.com.

NSnewstv.com Executive Editor Walter Fields recognized the significance of the partnership. “Our premise is simple,” noted Fields, “our community demands and respects news and information that facilitates their civic engagement. We see RushmoreDrive.com as an ideal partner and an essential tool in elevating Black consciousness. We recognize the importance of RushmoreDrive.com to our plans to be a reliable source of news and information for our community.”

The editorial staffs of NSnewstv.com and RushmoreDrive.com will coordinate their editorial calendars and work collaboratively to cover events of importance to the Black community. In September NSnewstv.com will cover the Congressional Black Caucus Annual Legislative Conference and produce daily reports and commentary that will appear on both websites.

The lead staff for RushmoreDrive.com is Dr. Nsenga K. Burton, the Editorial Director at the search engine, who will coordinate news coverage with NSnewstv.com. Dr. Burton acknowledged, “It is exciting to partner with an organization that holds the same news and research values as RushmoreDrive.com. We are committed to ensuring that the news needs of communities that are underserved in-line and off-line are brought from the margins to the center of discourse on news impacting Black Americans.”

Other programming expected from the partnership includes the NSnewstv Business Report, a daily podcast examining economic issues hosted by NSnewstv.com Executive Editor Walter Fields as well as opinion articles and editorial content.

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