News net in online play.

A new news network is launching online this summer with the backing of some well-known investors including Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt and Cory Booker, mayor of Newark, N.J.

The venture is being called #Waywire, and the hashtag appears in the name as a nod to its emphasis on social media and reliance on digital platforms, including as a branded app. Waywire will also subsist mostly on user-generated content from viewers in addition to its own original programming.

Waywire is expected to launch in beta mode later this summer but without advertising, which won't kick in until the venture amasses a significant audience. Only a handful of shortform video programs will be available at launch, including a thrice-daily newscast no longer than five minutes.

The goal is to give a millennial audience raised on technology an alternative to the …