• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, May 18, 2017

In a move to simplify the content creation and editorial process for its publisher members, Reuters News Agency is launching Reuters Connect, a new, unified content marketplace offering members access to all the international news service’s multimedia products, as well as a curated selection of high-profile content from other big media companies.

The Reuters Connect marketplace is intended to make it easier for editorial teams to find and incorporate multimedia content from Reuters and elsewhere into their own.

In addition to Reuters’ multimedia content, subscribers can purchase content including photos and video from various sources, including BBC, USA TODAY Sports, Variety, Hollywood TV and Africa24.

Reuters Connect is available by subscription to Reuters News Agency customers, who pay for content with Reuters Points, the agency’s online spending system. The service is currently available to a select group of customers, with a broader rollout scheduled for coming months.

Sue Brooks, Reuters global product head, noted that available content includes over a century of Reuters’ huge back library: “Because our vast trove of real-time and archive multimedia content dating back to 1896 is now accessible in one place, our customers can create more compelling, engaging stories than ever before.”

Big newswire services have been scrambling to keep up with ever-changing media consumption habits and the demands they place on their customers.

This week, for example, the AP launched the AP Social Newswire, which uses human researchers and technology to find and verify content with news relevance posted on social media. Launched in collaboration with SAM (short for Social Asset Management), a company specializing in social search and analytics, the AP Social Newswire verifies social media content and distributes it for use by AP clients in their coverage.