April 13, 2006 -- (WEB HOST INDUSTRY REVIEW) -- As technological advances continue to dramatically affect the way we receive information, media agencies are faced with the daunting task of storing endless amounts of data, while delivering an enriched multimedia experience to their viewers.

In increasing numbers, people are using the Internet as their primary source of news, rather than newspapers or television.

According to content delivery service provider Mirror Image (mirror-image.com), the technical demand on those news sites is intense. And service providers like Mirror Image can help tackle the problem head on.

According to a recent report on media use and technology spearheaded by nonprofit organization Pew Internet & American Life Project (pewinternet.org), 50 million Americans are accessing their news online.

This number has nearly doubled since 2002, showing a correlation with the surge in broadband users.

Additionally, of the over 3,000 Americans surveyed for the report about their use of online news sources, 71 percent of broadband users say they use online sources in place of traditional outlets such as local TV and radio.

Mirror Image says it offers news agencies and other organizations a range of services to tackle the delivery and storage of information, including data streaming, secure data delivery and storage.

"One of the challenges that are facing the news organization is how they get that content to the users," says Martin Hayward, marketing director for Mirror Image. "They need to be able to deliver it so that the user experience is entertaining, so that the person comes back for more information, repeatedly."

But building an infrastructure to facilitate content delivery and high volume storage is not without its price, leading most news agencies to break their budgets.

Mirror Image provides an alternative to this, enabling them to rent the technology rather than having it built from scratch.

More importantly, Mirror Image's CDN services provide organizations with nearly 100 percent uptime, ensuring performance with its guaranteeing service level agreement.

The company helps news agencies take on a more multimedia approach, enabling it to deliver streaming video, downloadable audio clips, and viewable pictures.  

"Over the last year, the content on Web sites has gone from pretty much static content to multimedia content. If you wanted to watch the Master's tournament, you can watch it live," says Hayward. "If you want to get information about an event in your community, people can go to their news sites - whether it's an election or some other event. Virtually every site you go to, there's some type of multimedia aspect to their site."

And though television and radio show no danger of becoming obsolete anytime soon, online sources have transformed the consumption of news into a more interactive experience.

"More of these television stations are referring people back to their Web sites for either more information about a particular story or more video about a particular story," says Hayward. "It's not going to replace it, but it certainly compliments their existing newscast."