December 7th, 2009, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government (ALG) President Bill Wilson today announced the launch of http://washingtonwire.org, an online news wire and aggregation service provided for media outlets to instantly access the top news in the nation’s capital.
Dubbed The WIRE (Washington Insider’s REport), the news portal updates itself via RSS and Twitter feeds from Washington’s top news sites, leading national bloggers, and newsmakers. It also features a classic news wire service: publishing traditional, Congressional and organization news releases, opeds, and “other news of vital importance to the nation’s press,” said Wilson.
“The WIRE is for political reporters, opinion leaders, bloggers, and editors in and around Washington, to keep them up to date with the headlines and what the capital’s leading newsmakers are saying, up-to-the-minute,” Wilson said.
Wilson also reached out to elected officials, news outlets, bloggers, activists and organizations nationwide to send breaking news tips and headlines to press@washingtonwire.org. Newsmaker Tweeters should contact Adam Bitely at adam@netrightnation.com about adding their Twitter feed to the system.
NetRightNation.com Director and WIRE News Editor Adam Bitely touted the RSS and Twitter feeds, which are run through a program called Yahoo! Pipes. “Today’s new media technologies allow websites to communicate through ‘feeds’ all across the Internet. So, for example, when the New York Times updates their political section, it automatically communicates with the WIRE, and is published automatically,” Bitely explained.
Wilson noted that in the Breaking News & Commentary section, “The WIRE is constantly being fed with releases, commentary, statements, speeches, and multimedia. We publish media from both Democrats and Republicans on the Hill.”
“We’re non-partisan,” WIRE News Editor Robert Romano explained. “My staff’s job is to sift through hundreds of releases we receive a day and feature those most vital to the top headlines, or the stories behind those headlines. Whether the stories are left or right, the WIRE is right down the middle.”
According to Bitely, the National News section includes top national, DC news outlets Politico, Washington Examiner, Congressional Quarterly, and others.
The WIRE contains four prominent features:
• the WIRE Twitter feed of top DC tweeters;
• the National News feed of the latest headlines from the Washington Post, Washington Examiner, Politico, Congressional Quarterly, and other DC news outlets;
• the blog feed from top political bloggers; and
• the Breaking News & Commentary feed, which will include Congressional and not-for-profit releases, statements, opeds, etc. as well as “breaking news that ALG-NRN News identifies throughout the day, and up-to-the-minute,” said Romano.
Wilson concluded, “The WIRE promises to be a single source, turn-to site for the nation’s media to get their hands on political news from the all parts of the political spectrum—directly from the newsmakers, without any filters.”
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