NewsRx is a media and technology company focusing on digital media, printed media, news services, and knowledge discovery through its BUTTER platform. In 1995 the company was the world's largest producer of health news.[1] The company publishes 194 news weeklies in health and other fields, which are distributed to subscribers and partners including LexisNexis, Factiva, the Wall Street Journal Professional Edition, Thomson Reuters, ProQuest, and Cengage Learning.[2][3]C W Henderson founded the company in 1984 and its first publication was AIDS Weekly.[4] In the early 2000s, the firm added the imprint, VerticalNews to publish news weeklies in non-health fields.[5] Now based in Atlanta, Georgia, the company reports through its daily news service and publishes reference books through its partner, ScholarlyEditions.[2][6] NewsRx launched its BUTTER platform in 2015, which is a knowledge discovery engine that delivers its content to academics, researchers, and professionals.[3]
The idea for the first newsletter originated at an international conference on AIDS sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC). A staff member commented to CW Henderson on the need for a publication to condense the rapid rise in information about the disease.[4] In 1984, Henderson created CW Henderson Publisher,[4] which became NewsRx in 2004.[7]
That same year, the company distributed its first journal, CDC AIDS Weekly, (which split into AIDS Weekly and Medical Letter on the CDC & FDA) to an international audience.[8][9] The first subscriber was the Soviet Union.[4] Other subscribers include physicians, educators, government agencies, and pharmaceutical companies.[4][10]
The articles in AIDS Weekly discussed social issues of the disease to medical research.[2] The newsweekly included “shorts” to explain as much as was known about unfolding information and events.[2]
Before the World Wide Web, NewsRx coordinated with the National AIDS Information Clearinghouse to provide information on the disease.[11] The CDC AIDS Weekly Infoline provided a list of upcoming AIDS seminars as well as names and addresses of over 65 AIDS periodicals published worldwide.[11]
The information published in AIDS Weekly came primarily from the government organization Centers for Disease Control (CDC).[2] Though the newsweekly had no direct ties to the CDC other than as a source for information, a CDC official described the publication as “highly informative.” [9] Other sources of information for this and other titles were the nearby Emory University medical library and international agencies.[2] Articles included summaries of peer-reviewed research, conference reports, news releases, and compilations from other health and medical organizations.[12]
However, in the beginning, some critics were offended by the fact that NewsRx was a non-governmental agency distributing statistics that were available for free in official versions from the government.[13] (see Controversy)
In 1988, the firm added Cancer Weekly[5][14] and it added Blood Weekly in 1993.[5] The company added Vaccine Weekly in 1995, followed by over 100 more medical-related titles.[1][2]
The firm also adopted site licenses, including the ability for users to download reports showing the types of information used in a given organization—information previously restricted to the NewsRx staff.[9] The system recognizes IP addresses to facilitate research activities.[2][4][9][10]
In 2010, the firm's VerticalNews China was the subject of a denial of service attack that originated from China as a result of controversial news reported.[15] The attack was halted when the company's IP service identified the source and blocked it.[16]
On April 22, 2015, NewsRx announced hiring new VP and Publisher Kalani Rosell.[17] The business development office opened in 2016 in New Haven, Connecticut, headed by Rosell.[3]
BUTTER
In 2015, NewsRx started BUTTER, which stands for Better Understanding Through Technology & Emerging Research, a business intelligence and data analytics platform with emerging research and new discoveries.[17] It has content for researchers, academics, and investors, using a New Discovery Index (NDI) that analyzes discoveries worldwide by quarter and new discoveries within specific topic areas.[18]
BUTTER uses a search engine and publishes 10,000 new articles a day (11.4 million articles as of March, 2016).[17]
BUTTER's platform creates content 30 minutes after stock markets close, monitoring all market movements, new SEC and patent filings, trademarks, and financial and investment decisions.[3]
Controversies
NewsRx is staffed by journalists rather than medical professionals.[4][19] At the company's beginnings, Newsweek magazine commented that AIDS Weekly, as a non-government entity, should not be reporting on topics that included policy, research, and statistics that some[who?] considered exclusive to the government.[2] The head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) AIDS task force at the time was misquoted as stating that he disagreed with having the CDC name associated with the newsweekly.[13] On the contrary, every issue of the CDC AIDS Weekly included an advisory caption, “…not sponsored by, endorsed by, affiliated with, or officially connected with the CDC.”[13] Other staffers within the CDC supported NewsRx's view to bring AIDS awareness to the public eye.[13] The Boston Globe reported that AIDS Weekly was a necessary “watchdog” publication providing needed information to the public.[2] Other articles appeared supporting NewsRx in the Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today, for what they said to be its impact in AIDS awareness and investigative journalism.[2][pageneeded]
CW Henderson's role as executive editor at the firm was discussed in an article in Editor and Publisher, focusing on the influence of pharmaceutical companies on news publications.[20] Henderson opposed pharmaceutical company influence on reporters as well as premature reporting of experiments.[20]
The firm was also involved with The New York Times in controversial breaking news about AIDS studies that had purposely been tampered with at the CDC.[21] On at least 5 occasions, research on the causes of AIDS and other viral diseases might have been tampered with.[21]CDC AIDS Weekly published an internal CDC memorandum on the incident.[21]
Partnerships
In 2011, the firm partnered with ScholarlyMedia's ScholarlyEditions imprint, publishing 4,000 reference books, which replaced the EncyK line.[6] The president of NewsRx is also president of ScholarlyMedia.[22] The company's book imprint is ScholarlyEditions, and its peer reviewed news service is ScholarlyNews.[22]
Dow Jones Factiva and the Wall Street Journal Professional Edition- For 20 years, NewsRx articles have been available through Dow Jones sources.[23]
InfoDesk – InfoDesk allows NewsRx content to be available to desktops, websites, and business applications including site licenses.[2]
Thomson Reuters – The partnership between Reuters and NewsRx began 20 years ago, and with Thomson 10 years ago.[23] In 2008, the two companies merged.[24]
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is the national public health agency of the United States. It is a United States federal agency under the Department of Health and Human Services, and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
Emory University is a private research university in Atlanta, Georgia. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campus is in the Druid Hills neighborhood 3 miles (4.8 km) from Downtown Atlanta.
The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV, found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexual men in Los Angeles, New York City, and San Francisco in 1981. Treatment of HIV/AIDS is primarily via the use of multiple antiretroviral drugs, and education programs to help people avoid infection.
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
ProQuest LLC is an Ann Arbor, Michigan-based global information-content and technology company, founded in 1938 as University Microfilms by Eugene Power.
Tropical medicine is an interdisciplinary branch of medicine that deals with health issues that occur uniquely, are more widespread, or are more difficult to control in tropical and subtropical regions.
The Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) is a weekly epidemiological digest for the United States published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). It was originally established as Weekly Health Index in 1930, changing its title to Weekly Mortality Index in 1941 and Morbidity and Mortality in 1952. It acquired its current name in 1976. It is the main vehicle for publishing public health information and recommendations that have been received by the CDC from state health departments. Material published in the report is in the public domain and may be reprinted without permission. As of 2019, the journal's editor-in-chief is Charlotte Kent.
This is a timeline of HIV/AIDS, including cases before 1980.
Saquinavir, sold under the brand name Invirase among others, is an antiretroviral medication used together with other medications to treat or prevent HIV/AIDS. Typically it is used with ritonavir or lopinavir/ritonavir to increase its effect. It is taken by mouth.
Public health informatics has been defined as the systematic application of information and computer science and technology to public health practice, research, and learning. It is one of the subdomains of health informatics.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, formed in 1946, is the leading national public health institute of the United States. It is a United States federal agency, under the United States Department of Health and Human Services. Its main goal is to protect public health and safety through the control and prevention of disease, injury, and disability in the US and internationally.
The New York Native was a biweekly gay newspaper published by Charles Ortleb in New York City from December 1980 until January 13, 1997. It was the only gay paper in New York City during the early part of the AIDS epidemic, and pioneered reporting on AIDS when most others ignored it. The paper subsequently became known for attacking the scientific understanding of HIV as the cause of AIDS and endorsing HIV/AIDS denialism.
Nanjing Medical University is a university in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China. It was established in 1934 in Zhenjiang, but subsequently relocated to Nanjing in 1957. The university has two main campuses: Wutai and Jiangning, both of which have international student apartments.
Selma Kaderman Dritz was an American physician and epidemiologist who worked in San Francisco, California, where she began tracking the first known cases of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) in the early 1980s.
Charles W. Henderson is an American media executive, technology executive, and journalist. He is president of media and technology companies NewsRx LLC and ScholarlyMedia LLC. He was co-founder of Video Concert Hall the first nationwide music video TV network. A USA Today cover story named him one of “6 Who Made a Difference.” He has also been on the cover of Billboard magazine.
ScholarlyEditions is a publishing imprint of ScholarlyMedia, LLC. The imprint publishes full-length eBooks in ePUB and PDF formats containing material from the over four million article summaries in the ScholarlyNews database of its partner, NewsRx, LLC.
Artificial butter flavoring is a flavoring used to give a food the taste and smell of butter. It may contain diacetyl, acetylpropionyl, or acetoin, three natural compounds in butter that contribute to its characteristic taste and smell. Manufacturers of margarines or similar oil-based products typically add it to make the final product butter-flavored, because it would otherwise be relatively tasteless.
Sandy Ford was a drug technician for the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, Georgia. In April 1981, she identified unusual clusters of young homosexual patients in New York and California with pneumocystis pneumonia and Kaposi's sarcoma and alerted her supervisor about it. Those patients had HIV/AIDS; pneumocystis pneumonia and Kaposi's sarcoma were later found to be AIDS-defining diseases.
James W. Curran is professor of epidemiology and dean of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. He is an adjunct Professor of Medicine and Nursing, and Co-Director and Principal Investigator of the Emory Center for AIDS Research. He is immediate past chair of the board on Population Health and Public Health Practice of the Institute of Medicine and served on the Executive Committee of the Association of Schools of Public Health. Additionally, he holds an endowed chair known as the James W. Curran Dean of Public Health. Curran is considered to be a pioneer, leader, and expert in the field of HIV/AIDS.
The Weekly Epidemiological Record (WER) is a publication of the World Health Organization (WHO) that as of 2020 is in its 95th volume. It is published in English and French with the alternative title of the Relevé épidémiologique hebdomadaire. It aims to rapidly disseminate epidemiological information about outbreaks of diseases under the International Health Regulations and about communicable diseases of public health importance. This includes emerging or re-emerging diseases.
References
1 2 Fernandes, Manuela. "Health Letters: Let the Reader Beware." The New York Times News Service 18 Aug, 1995
↑ Zimmerman, David, Lou Ziegler, and Patrick O'Driscoll. "6 Who Made a Difference." USA Today December 11, 1985
1 2 3 4 5 6 Goss, Fred. "Charles Henderson Quietly Built one of the Largest and Most Successful Operations in Newsletter History, Title by Title, Week by Week." Newsletter on Newsletters May 23, 2005
1 2 Allison, David. "Atlanta's a Center for Health-care Newsletters." Atlanta Business Chronicle. April 21, 1995
1 2 Moore, Lisa. "AIDS Bulletin." U.S. News & World Report. June 6, 1988: 83
↑ "NewsRx; China News from U.S. Hit by Denial of Service Cyber Attack Originating from China." Wall Street Journal Professional Edition with Factiva. January 25, 2010
1 2 "NewsRx.com: eHealth Evolution; global partnerships for health, biotech news offerings announced." Business Wire. October 19, 2000
↑ "Reuters Agrees to Thomson Buyout." BBC News May 15, 2007
↑ "NewsRx's 26 Newsletters Now on Dialog Platform." Newsletter on Newsletters 2002
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