Newspaper Content Part of Mochila's New 'Media Marketplace'

By: E&P Staff A syndication service called Mochila will make its debut April 1 at the Nexpo newspaper trade show and conference in Chicago.

Mochila -- which describes itself as an "iTunes-like media marketplace" -- will offer newspaper- and magazine-generated print, photo, audio, and video content for sale "a la carte" to newspapers, magazines, Web sites, and other customers.

Media companies that are charter Mochila members include Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S., Metro International, MediaNews Group, Freedom Communications, Liberty Group, Fast Company Inc., Working Mother Media, Entrepreneur Media, Rasmussen Reports, and The Greenspun Media Group.

Sellers upload content to Mochila.com and set the price, licensing rules, embargoes, and other restrictions. Buyers search for content, review the prices and licensing terms, read posted comments on a seller's history and credibility, buy what they want via a "shopping cart," and get it immediately downloaded into their computer.

Content will cover topics such as health and fitness, travel, automotive, the home, and more.

The "peer-to-peer" syndication service also has an ad-supported element. Mochila explained that if a "member is buying content for online use, at the point of purchase they're presented with an option to accept online advertising. After copying and pasting some code onto their site, Mochila then serves the content and ad onto the buyer's site. The content becomes free and the buyer now participates in an advertising revenue-sharing model with the content owner and Mochila."

Senior management at Mochila -- which began as an XML software company in 2001 -- includes a number of media veterans. For instance, Mochila CEO Keith McAllister was CNN's executive vice president and managing editor of national newsgathering, Mochila Chairman/Chief Technology Officer Benjamin Chen has spent two decades with high-tech startups, and Mochila Vice President for Business Development Carolyn Bekkedahl was president of the entertainment and active lifestyle magazine groups at American Media Inc.