Topix

Topix is a large online news site that boasts a wide array of newsworthy topics targeted to a specific local area. Its topic also include other relevant issues throughout the world. By visiting one, or more, of its more than 360,000 pages, it is possible to read, comment on, and edit the news that is on the site. A sampling of the topics available on Topix includes celebrities, health and drug, publicly traded companies, international news, United States cities and towns, and many more. Topix is a privately held company formed in 2004. They are based in Palo Alto, California, and count Tribune Company, Gannett Company, Inc., and The McClatchy Company among its investors. When it first formed, Topix relied on an algorithm to index each news story as it is launched. The result was stories from every one of the 32,5000 zip codes in the United States, 48,000 celebrities and musicians, 5,500 public companies and industries, and 1500 sports personalities and teams, to name just a few of the types of pages that make up the more than 360,000 pages of news stories that are contained on the website. By April 2007, however, Topix realized that in order to offer their visitors that types of news stories they wanted, Topix needed to allow visitors a more broad access to the website. By opening up the web site in this way, it gave anyone who desired it, the ability to comment on the news, share the news that is important to them, and edit the news to ensure accuracy. Topix offers a number of features that set them apart from other news sites. These include the sheer number of news pages on the site. These news pages number more than 360,000, and are linked with more than 50,000 sources from a variety of places such as magazines, newspapers, blogs, government agencies, corporate information sites, blogs, and radio and television stations. The extensive and powerful Topix news search engine is able to index the news as far back as three years ago. The Most Popular page shows the most popular news stories within a 24 hour period based on the number of unique commenters. Forums allow users to comment on the stories they find of interest on Topix, or they can talk about items of a more general nature. The Top Blog page ranks the stories that the most popular among bloggers by monitoring 25,000 blogs. The most unique aspect of Topix is the news web site's focus on the local news. For many people who live in small towns or cities, or even some larger towns and cities, there is a lack of local coverage on which comments can be posted. There is even less of an opportunity to edit the wrong information that can sometimes be contained in a local story. Topix offers a set of robust editing tools so that users can contribute in a meaningful way, both through the use of forum commenting as well as editing. The extensive and powerful Topix news search engine is able to index the news as far back as three years ago. The Most Popular page shows the most popular news stories within a 24 hour period based on the number of unique commenters. Forums allow users to comment on the stories they find of interest on Topix, or they can talk about items of a more general nature. The Top Blog page ranks the stories that the most popular among bloggers by monitoring 25,000 blogs. Topix does not require a registration before reading the forum posts or commenting in the forum. In order to become an editor and post news stories, however, registration is required. The form is simple and easy to fill out, requiring only a user name, email address, password, and birth date. In order to become an editor, the relevant zip code is entered, and, a few clicks later, the appropriate application opens. Topix does not charge any membership fees of any kind. The site is geared toward anyone who desires to be well informed about the news happening around the world with a special focus on the local news that is important to those who live it. People who are also looking for an avenue in which to interact with other community members will find tools in which to do that on the Topix site.