On Thursday, San Francisco-based Business Wire quietly launched two new features in their online service, both related to RSS feeds. PressPass users now have the opportunity to receive the latest stories in "My PressPass" via an RSS feed, which is available after logging into the system and scrolling to the bottom of the page - each individual's RSS feed will be different, based on their subscriptions to Industry and Subject selections.

Additionally, an RSS feed is now available under the "Photos & Multimedia" heading, at the bottom of the "Smart News Releases" section. This feed is exclusively made up of releases that contain images or audio and video.

Business Wire's closest competitor, PR Newswire, has had an RSS feed for about a year now, but it appears to be limited to "Today's News," not any subscriptions that a user may have. In September of 2004, MarketWatch.com columnist Frank Barnako wrote that "BusinessWire [sic] doesn't get it" on his weblog, which he was probably right about - then. At the time, PR Newswire was indeed the only one of the two sites to have a feed. And yes, it appears that the individual at Business Wire that he traded e-mails with did not know what an RSS feed was. Fortunately, they quickly caught on, publishing five industry-specific feeds in November, and progressing to the point they are at today. As of today, Business Wire does get it - the only question remaining is whether they're moving at the pace that today's media needs to receive information. Early reports would say yes. So, as they say on the playground - "Tag, you're it!"

Laura Sturaitis, Business Wire Vice President, New Media Development explains the strategy behind the further adoption of RSS, stating, "Business Wire is committed to using the best technology tools for the job in our effort to serve the media and get them our members' news in the fastest and easiest way they can use it on deadline, so naturally we wanted to make RSS part of that mix.

Business Wire's strategy towards making RSS a part of their business was to get it right the first time, hence the aforementioned launch of five industry feeds in November and the evolution into what exists today. Those five (Automotive, Entertainment, Health, Sports Business and Travel) are set to grow into the eighteen individual industry categories that are available to PressPass users under the "News by Industry" option - Communications, Construction & Property, Consumer, Education, Energy, Government, Manufacturing, Natural Resources, Philanthropy, Professional Services, Retail, Technology and Transport.

Also included in this week's launch are RSS feeds for "Hot Topics," which are located at the top of the left-side menu bar. These are determined based on "what's going on" in the news at the time, such as "Politics" during election season. Currently, feeds exist for Tsunami and Nanotechnology topics.

Sturaitis also informed TMD that the "Smart News Releases" feed was created in response to journalists' requests for an quick and easy way to find news releases that contain photos, graphics, logos, slideshows, or A/V content. She confirmed that Businss Wire is committed to help PressPass subscribers successfully manage the news and information in a manner they are not only accustomed to (through e-mail and the website) but also through this new transmission method, on their customers' terms - RSS.

[editor's note: this post was updated Friday, 2/18 to include comments and additional information from Business Wire's Laura Sturaitis]