Mochila is the new syndication service that will be unveiled at Nexpo, an annual newspaper confrerence. Initially it will only allow the sale of text and photographs between the different media outlets but it plans to add audio and video content.

"People want to get any kind of content they want, anywhere, anytime, by any kind of device. We are helping media companies transform their business operation models to seize that opportunity," said Keith McAllister, Mochila's chief executive.

How it will work:
Describing itself as an “iTunes-like media marketplace," will be a place where sellers upload content to the site 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, according to Editor & Publisher.
Mochila will take a cut "radically better than 50 percent" from each transaction, McAllister said.

According to Editor & Publisher, 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."

A new challenge to newswires?
Mochila will be different from traditional news services like The Associated Press where subscribers pay an annual fee for news and have access to what it needs from a single provider. With the Mochila service, customers have access to a plethora of sources and information.

Companies like Metro International, which publishes the newspaper Metro, is one of many to sign a deal with Mochila. "This is an incredible chance to get some qualified competition to those news wires we use all over the world," said Per Mikael Jensen, the company's global editor in chief.

Metro does not plan to drop its current deals with the AP as it trusts the brand value and reputation of the AP and companies like Agence France-Presse but as newspapers become more familiar with the many options in the market, a combination of sources may become the norm.

Sources: New York Times and Editor & Publisher [Through the Ifra Executive News Service]