No more medical roulette: Publisher says internet will change in 2003.(NewsRx)

2003 JAN 9 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- NewsRx is celebrating its twentieth year as a publisher by adding 20 new weeklies. The company's CEO is predicting major changes in the publishing industry and Internet in 2003.

The Atlanta-based media company began in 1984, and launched its first title, AIDS Weekly, in 1985. With the New Year, NewsRx begins its twentieth year as a medical news network and publisher of life science databases and periodicals.

Doubling the company's output, the 20 new weeklies for 2003, available as both print and electronic titles, are: AIDS Vaccine Week, Anti-Infectives Week, Biotech Business Week, Bioterrorism Week (name change), Cardiovascular Week, Cancer Gene Therapy Week, Cancer Vaccine Week, Clinical Oncology Week, Clinical Trials Week, Gastroenterology Week, Hematology Week, Life Science Weekly, Malaria Weekly (relaunch), Managed Care Weekly Digest (name change), Mental Health Weekly Digest, Obesity & Diabetes Week, OBGYN & Reproduction Week, Pharma Business Week, Respiratory Therapeutics Week, and Tuberculosis Week.

From historic observations, Charles Henderson, NewsRx CEO, forsees an orderly evolution for the publishing industry for 2003, rather than the disorderly shakeouts of the past.

* Many print publishers will move into television and streaming media. NewsRx-TV was launched last year, and included streaming video coverage of 24 major medical conferences in 2002. The television news coverage was syndicated to medical and pharmaceutical web sites, and is at NewsRx Network on the web at www.NewsRx.net.

* Shorter attention spans, information overload, and a clogged Internet will cause publishers to move toward "quick reads" and "quick views." Most NewsRx articles are packed with facts, but only 600 words long, and video clips are kept to between 15 seconds and 2 minutes. "If the article or video requires more than a minute or two, you'll lose your audience," Henderson said.

* Automation will allow media companies to increase output. NewsRx has moved from 300 original news articles each week in 2002 to over 1000 a week in January, 2003.