NewsRx, LLC

NewsRx, LLC
Parent company NewsRx, LLC
Founded 1984
Founder CW Henderson
Country of origin United States
Headquarters location Atlanta, Georgia
Distribution Global
Imprints NewsRx, VerticalNews
Official website www.newsrx.com www.verticalnews.com

NewsRx is a media company focusing on digital media, printed media, and news services. The company is arguably the world’s largest producer of health news.[1] The company publishes 194 newsweeklies in health and other fields, which are distributed to subscribers and partners including Factiva, the Wall Street Journal Professional Edition, and LexisNexis.[2] C W Henderson founded the company in 1984 and its first publication was AIDS Weekly. [3] In the early 2000s, the firm added the imprint, VerticalNews to publish newsweeklies in non-health fields.[4] Now based in Vinings, Georgia, the company reports through its daily news service and publishes reference books through its partner, ScholarlyEditions.[2][5]

History

Beginnings: 1980s to 1990s

The idea for the first newsletter originated at an international conference on AIDS sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). A staff member commented to CW Henderson on the need for a publication to condense the explosion of information about the disease.[3] In 1984, Henderson created CW Henderson Publisher,[3] which became NewsRx in 2004.[6]

That same year, the company distributed its first journal, CDC AIDS Weekly, (which split into AIDS Weekly and Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA) to an international audience.[7][8] The first subscriber was the Soviet Union.[3] Other subscribers include physicians, educators, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies.[3][9]

The articles in AIDS Weekly discussed social issues of the disease to medical research.[2] The newsweekly included “shorts” to explain as much as was known about unfolding information and events.[2]

Before the World Wide Web, NewsRx coordinated with the National AIDS Information Clearinghouse to provide information on the disease.[10] The CDC AIDS Weekly Infoline provided a list of upcoming AIDS seminars as well as names and addresses of over 65 AIDS periodicals published worldwide.[10]

The information published in AIDS Weekly came primarily from the government organization Centers for Disease Control (CDC).[2] Though the newsweekly had no direct ties to the CDC other than as a source for information, a CDC official described the publication as “highly informative.” [8] Other sources of information for this and other titles were the nearby Emory University medical library and international agencies.[2] Articles included summaries of peer-reviewed research, conference reports, news releases, and compilations from other health and medical organizations.[11]

However, in the beginning, some critics were offended by the fact that NewsRx was a non-governmental agency distributing statistics that were available for free in official versions frrm the government.[12] (see Controversy)

In 1988, the firm added Cancer Weekly[4][13] and it added Blood Weekly in 1993.[4] The company added Vaccine Weekly in 1995, followed by over 100 more medical-related titles.[1][2]

Recent Years: 2000s

In 2007, the firm introduced VerticalNews, a group of newsweeklies that included 86 new non-medical related titles, thus expanding the company’s reader-base.[4] The initiative also emphasized the distribution of information on a global scale (more than 50 countries).[7] Electronic versions of the publications are available.[4][14][15] In addition to the 103 newsweeklies in medical, legal, and business fields within the healthcare industry, the firm publishes 88 newsweeklies within the VerticalNews imprint.[2]

The firm also adopted site licenses, including the ability for users to download reports showing the types of information used in a given organization—information previously restricted to the NewsRx staff.[8] The system recognizes IP addresses to facilitate research activities.[2][3][8][9]

The firm also adopted Artificial Intelligence Journalist (AIJ) which uses robotics, machine learning, algorithms, logic, and automated reasoning to provide computer-assisted reporting and data driven journalism.[8] This software program shortens the time from news event to news distribution.[8]

EncyK and ScholarlyEditions

In 2009, the firm introduced a line of medical encyclopedias called EncyK (Encyclopedic Knowledge) which provided information in subject areas including vaccines, breast cancer, autism, HIV/AIDS, and Swine Flu.[16] These titles were written for patients, physicians, and parents.[16] In 2011, the firm partnered with ScholarlyMedia’s ScholarlyEditions imprint, publishing 4,000 reference books, which replaced the EncyK line.[5]

Editors

Throughout most of its operating history, the NewsRx staff included board-certified medical editors with bachelor’s degrees in journalism or related fields and experience in writing and editing.[8] Today’s staff includes supervisors with PhD’s and Master’s degrees in English, journalism, and Information Technology.[8] NewsRx editors condense news so that each article is less than 1000 words, while including key sentences of the original report and full bibliographic references and citations to original source material.[8]

Controversy

As there are no qualifications for one to start a newsweekly, critics have attacked NewsRx, whose staff included journalists rather than medical professionals.[3][17] At the company’s beginnings, Newsweek magazine commented that AIDS Weekly, as a non-government entity, should not be reporting on topics that included policy, research, and statistics that some considered exclusive to the government.[2] The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) AIDS task force at the time was misquoted as stating that he disagreed with having the CDC name associated with the newsweekly.[12] On the contrary, every issue of the CDC AIDS Weekly included an advisory caption, “…not sponsored by, endorsed by, affiliated with, or officially connected with the CDC.”[12] Other staffers within the CDC supported NewsRx’s view to bring AIDS awareness to the public eye.[12] The Boston Globe noted that AIDS Weekly was a necessary “watchdog” publication providing needed information to the public.[2] Other articles appeared supporting NewsRx in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today, applauding the company for its impact in AIDS awareness and investigative journalism.[2]

CW Henderson’s role as executive editor at the firm was discussed in an article in Editor and Publisher, focusing on the influence of pharmaceutical companies on news publications.[18] Henderson opposed pharmaceutical company influence on reporters as well as premature reporting of experiments.[18]

The firm was also involved with The New York Times in controversial breaking news about AIDS studies that had purposely been tampered with at the CDC.[19] On at least 5 occasions, research on the causes of AIDS and other viral diseases might have been tampered with.[19] CDC AIDS Weekly published an internal CDC memorandum on the incident.[19]

In 2010, the firm's VerticalNews China was the subject of a denial of service attack that originated from China as a result of controversial news reported.[20] The attack was halted when the company’s IP service identified the source and blocked it.[21]

Philanthropy

The company supports the AIDS Education Global Information System (AEGIS), a worldwide database of AIDS information that presents content from AIDS Weekly and other AIDS related newsletters.[2] This resulted in a partnership with the AEGIS Millennium Collection at the United Nations, part of UNESCO’s Memory of the World Program.[2]

Partnerships

The company's partners include:[2]

Rankings

The company's rankings include:[2][27]

  • Amazon's Alexa 2011 PageRank: #5 News and Media Site for the Pharmaceutical Industry [28]
  • Google 2010 PageRank: #2 Among Top Health News and Media Publications
  • Google 2010 PageRank: #2 Among Top Science Publications in Biology/Physiology
  • Google 2010 PageRank: #2 Among Top News and Media for the Business of Pharmaceuticals
  • Amazon's Alexa 2010 PageRank: #2 News and Media Site for the Pharmaceutical Industry [28]
  • eHealthcare Leadership Award, Best Health/Healthcare Content 2011 [29]
  • Best e-Business Site, 2010
  • Best e-Business Site, 2009
  • Best e-Business Site, 2008
  • Best e-Business Site, 2007
  • Best e-Business Site, 2006
  • Best :*Healthcare Content, 2005
  • Best Overall Internet Site, 2005
  • Best Interactive Site, 2005

Titles

The database contains over 20,000,000 proprietary news articles available through paid subscription.[30] A limited selection on popular topics is also available through free subscription.[30] The products through the Wall Street Journal Professional Edition, or as pay-per-article and timed-access passes at NewsRx.com.[30] Titles include:[2]

Most of the titles are in the biomedical sciences, but other aspects of business and technology are also represented, such as Agriculture Week, and Food Weekly News.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Fernandes, Manuela. "Health Letters: Let the Reader Beware." The New York Times News Service 18 Aug, 1995
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 2.12 2.13 2.14 2.15 2.16 2.17 2.18 2.19 2.20 Bellury, Phillip. Enlightening The World. Atlanta, GA: The Storyline Group, 2009.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 Taylor, Ron. "Private Enterprise Jumps into AIDS Marketplace." Atlanta Constitution. February 4, 1986
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 "NewsRx's VerticalNews Division Launches 86 Titles in Tech, Science and General Interest." Newsletter on Newsletters September 10, 2008 <http://www.thefreelibrary.com/NewsRx's+VerticalNews+division+launches+86+titles+in+tech,+science...-a0186874438>
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Hasty, Susan. "Take Control of the News." ScholarlyNews and ScholarlyEditions. ScholarlyMedia, 2011 <http://www.scholarlyeditions.com/assets/pdf/scholarlyeditions-brochure.pdf>
  6. ↑ <http://www.who.is/domain_archive-com/newsrx.com/>
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Zimmerman, David, Lou Ziegler, and Patrick O'Driscoll. "6 Who Made a Difference." USA Today December 11, 1985
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 8.7 8.8 Goss , Fred. "Charles Henderson Quietly Built one of the Largest and Most Successful Operations in Newsletter HIstory, Title by Title, Week by Week." Newsletter on Newsletters May 23, 2005
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Allison, David. "Atlanta's a Center for Health-care Newsletters." Atlanta Business Chronicle. April 21, 1995
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Moore, Lisa. "AIDS Bulletin." U.S. News & World Report. June 6, 1988: 83
  11. ↑ "NewsRx Weekly Reports." Dialog, November 10, 2003. Web. 24 Aug 2011. <http://library.dialog.com/bluesheets/html/bl0135.html>
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Laermer, Richard. "A Source of News on AIDS." Editor and Publisher September 5, 1987
  13. ↑ Ricklefs, Roger. "Medical Newsletters on AIDS Therapies Crop Up Across U.S." The Wall Street Journal. October 4, 1988
  14. ↑ Oliver, Suzanne. "Peddle or Perish." Forbes. October 23, 1995: 222-232
  15. ↑ Lauerman, Connie. "Today's Prescription for Medical Advice: Take 2 Aspirin and See a Newsletter." Chicago Tribune August 8, 1997
  16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 Hasty, Susan. "NewsRx Publishes Encyclopedia of Vaccines, 2009: An encyK Resource for Parents, Patients & Professionals." EncyK Press Release. WebWire. January 2010
  17. ↑ Fernandes, Manuela. "Reading All About It: Newsletters growing in number, but not all information is reliable." Atlanta Journal. August 16, 1995
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Nicholson, Joe. "Of Mice & Men: Is there too much hype in media's medical stories?." Editor and Publisher. October 3, 1998
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 Schneider, Keith. "Tampering Uncovered at AIDS Research Lab." The New York Times p.1 September 17, 1986 <http://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/17/us/tampering-uncovered-at-aids-research-lab.html>
  20. ↑ Higgins, Kelly. "More Victims of Chinese Hacking Attacks Come Forward." Dark Reading. January 14, 2010 <http://www.informationweek.com/news/security/attacks/222301032>
  21. ↑ "NewsRx; China News from U.S. Hit by Denial of Service Cyber Attack Originating from China." Wall Street Journal Professional Edition with Factiva. January 25, 2010
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 "ScholarlyEditions." ScholarlyEditions. ScholarlyMedia, 2011. <http://www.scholarlyeditions.com/>
  23. ↑ 23.0 23.1 "NewsRx.com: eHealth Evolution; global partnerships for health, biotech news offerings announced." Business Wire. October 19, 2000
  24. ↑ "Reuters Agrees to Thomson Buyout." BBC News May 15, 2007
  25. ↑ Goss, Fred "Charles Henderson - 'The Rupert Murdoch of Health'." Newsletter on Newsletters May 23, 2005
  26. ↑ "NewsRx's 26 Newsletters Now on Dialog Platform." Newsletter on Newsletters 2002
  27. ↑ "Awards Profile." eHealthcare Leadership Awards. Strategic Health Care Communications, <http://www.strategichealthcare.com/awards/>
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 "Top Sites." Alexa . Amazon.com, <http://www.alexa.com/topsites/category/Top/Business/Biotechnology_and_Pharmaceuticals/Pharmaceuticals/News_and_Media>
  29. ↑ <http://www.strategichealthcare.com/awards/winnerlogos.php>
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 "Products." NewsRx. NewsRx, <http://www.newsrx.com/products.php>