SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR ELECTRONICALLY MANAGING AND ROUTING NEWS CONTENT

• US 20080077708A1
• Filed: 09/26/2006
• Published: 03/27/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 09/26/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Original Assignee: Disney Enterprises Incorporated (The Walt Disney Company)
• Inventors: Scott, Thomas C., Chybinski, John C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,364,757 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/246
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/335 Filtering based on additional data, e.g. user or group profiles filtering in web context G06F16/9535, G06F16/9536
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/38 Retrieval characterised by using metadata, e.g. metadata not derived from the content or metadata generated manually
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/55 Push-based network services

Abstract

Techniques that enable automated processing of news content. A client device receives news content and configures a message for processing by a server. A user of the client device can assign one or more processing attributes to the news content such as scheduling, formatting, or delivery attributes. A message with the news content and assigned attributes is configured according to a predetermined format and transmitted to the server. The server receives the message and may automatically process the news content based upon information contained in the message. Output from the server may be distributed for use at one or more newsrooms.

Claims

1. A method of delivering news content from a client device to a server for automated processing at the server comprising:

receiving news content from a user of the client device;

assigning attributes to the news content, wherein the attributes are selectable from a set of attributes recognized by the server and include one or more scheduling attributes, formatting attributes, and delivery attributes;

configuring a message with the news content and the assigned attributes, wherein the message has a predetermined format accepted by the server for automated processing; and

transmitting the message from the client device to the server for automated processing according to the assigned attributes.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising presenting a list of the attributes for selection by a user.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the news content includes text and multimedia data elements.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein some of the assigned attributes correspond to fields defined for distributing news by wire service transmission.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the attributes permit the news content to be selectively distributed by a news provider.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising capturing audio and video data for inclusion as part of the news content.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising transmitting the audio and video data to the server after transmitting the message.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the message includes a link to the audio and video data.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the predetermined format includes XML data and at least some of the attributes are represented by XML tags.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising encrypting the message prior to transmission.

11. A method of processing news messages at a server comprising:

receiving a message containing news content and a set of attributes, wherein the set of attributes include information sufficient to produce output for distribution by a wire service;

scheduling the news content for electronic distribution to at least one destination system based upon the set of attributes;

identifying a capability of the at least one destination system to receive formatted output electronically;

producing formatted output from the news content according to the set of attributes and the capability of the at least one destination system; and

transmitting the formatted output to the at least one destination system over a connecting network.

12. The method of processing news messages recited in claim 11 wherein the server performs the steps automatically upon receiving the message.

13. The method of processing news messages recited in claim 11 wherein the formatted output conforms with wire service transmission guidelines promulgated by the American Newspaper Publishers Association.

14. The method recited in claim 11 wherein the news content includes text and multimedia news elements.

15. The method recited in claim 14 further comprising embedding a link to a multimedia news element in the formatted output.

16. The method recited in claim 14 further comprising:

determining a capability of a first destination system to receive a multimedia news element;

processing the multimedia news element according to the capability of the first destination system; and

distributing the processed multimedia news element to the first destination system with its corresponding formatted output.

17. The method recited in claim 14 further comprising storing a copy of multimedia elements.

18. The method recited in claim 17 further comprising creating an index of the stored multimedia elements based upon the set of attributes.

19. The method recited in claim 11 further comprising sending a confirmation message to a client device upon successfully receiving the news content.

20. The method recited in claim 11 wherein the message includes XML data and at least some of the attributes are represented by XML tags.

21. The method recited in claim 11 further comprising selectively distributing the news content based upon the set of attributes.

22. The method recited in claim 11 further comprising:

detecting whether an encrypted message is received; and

decrypting the encrypted message.

23. A method of configuring a message at a client device comprising:

receiving news content from a user of the client device;

providing a list of one or more attributes for selection by the user, wherein the list includes attributes enabling the news content to be automatically processed by a server;

assigning values to each attribute based upon user selection; and

configuring a message with the news content and the assigned attributes, wherein the message has a predetermined format accepted by the server.

24. A method of processing news messages at a server comprising:

receiving a message containing news content and a set of attributes, wherein the set of attributes includes information sufficient to produce output for distribution by a wire service;

creating a list of destination systems to receive the news content based upon the set of attributes;

identifying ingest requirements for each destination system included in the list of destinations;

processing the news content according to the ingest requirements to produce a plurality of output files, each output file corresponding to one or more destination systems;

scheduling each of the plurality of output files for distribution to its corresponding destination system; and

transmitting each output file to its corresponding destination system,

wherein the server performs these steps automatically upon receipt of the message.

25. An apparatus for use as part of a remote news delivery system architecture, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive input of news content from a user;

receive input of attributes recognized by a server for processing the news content, the attributes including one or more scheduling attributes, formatting attributes, and delivery attributes;

configure a message including the news content and the attributes, the message having a predetermined format accepted by the server;

a display adapted to present information about the news content and the attributes to a user; and

a network controller adapted to transmit the message to the server over a connecting network.

26. An apparatus for use as part of a remote news delivery system architecture, the apparatus comprising:

a processor configured to;

receive a message containing news content and a set of attributes, the set of attributes containing information for processing the news content;

identify one or more destination news outlets to receive the news content based upon the set of attributes;

determine ingest requirements for each of the one or more identified destination news outlets;

process the news content according to the set of attributes to produce formatted output corresponding to each of the one or more destination news outlets, the formatted output appropriate to the ingest requirements of its corresponding destination news outlet; and

a network interface adapted to receive the formatted output and to transmit the formatted output to its corresponding news outlet address over a network.