Mainstream Media is a digital News media
organization
An organization or organisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is an entity—such as a company, an institution, or an association—comprising one or more people and having a particular purpose.
The word is derived from ...
founded in 1996, that operates multiple news
portals specific to the regions, countries and major cities in the world.
["AME Info Directory"]
AMEinfo.com
AMEinfo.com is a provider of online business information about the Middle East region. Founded in the United Arab Emirates in 1993, AMEinfo.com offers English and Arabic information in daily news wires, editorial columns, feature articles, report ...
, Retrieved 13 September 2013.
Operation
The group was founded as a news distribution portal in 1996 in
Manama, Bahrain
Manama ( ar, المنامة ', Bahrani pronunciation: ) is the capital and largest city of Bahrain, with an approximate population of 200,000 people as of 2020. Long an important trading center in the Persian Gulf, Manama is home to a very d ...
. Mainstream Media claims it has progressively developed its network using the latest cutting edge technology, software innovations and interactive social media.
Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
news site
An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical.
Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...
on the Web, ''Philippines News.Net''. Reflecting the global nature of the readership of Mainstream's sites, ''Philippines News.Net'' is also one of two sites recommended by the Canadian Foreign Affairs Ministry on its website offering information for Canadians visiting the Philippines
The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no),
* bik, Republika kan Filipinas
* ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas
* cbk, República de Filipinas
* hil, Republ ...
.
Part of the news content displayed on the group's sites is drawn from ''Big news Network'', while content is also obtained on a contract basis from other news agencies, and its own in-house journalists. The group has a stated objective of expanding its own unique content.
History
''Mainstream Media EC'' was incorporated in Bahrain on 17 November 1996. In November 2013 the company name changed to Mainstream Media Limited following a company restructure and the incorporation of the new entity in the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
Development
With the ownership of Mainstream Media being Australian, the initial site launched was ''Australian News.Net''. ''New Zealand News.Net'' followed. By the end of 1999 the group had established sites for all countries in Asia including ''China News.Net'', ''Singapore News.Net'', ''Hong Kong News.Net'', ''Thailand News.Net'', ''Indonesia News.Net'', and ''Pakistan News.Net''. The inventory also included city sites such as ''Beijing News.Net'', ''Shanghai News.Net'', ''Seoul News.Net'', ''Bangkok News.Net'', ''Mumbai News.Net'' and ''Taipei News.Net''. With events heating up in the Middle East, ''Israel News.Net'', ''Palestinian News.Net'' and ''Middle East News.Net'' followed, then the network extended to the United States with ''US News.Net'', ''New York City News.Net'', ''Miami News.Net'', ''Chicago News.Net'', ''Los Angeles News.Net'', and ''Houston News.Net'' among others coming on stream. In all, more than 60 of the group's sites are U.S. sites. ''Europe News.Net'' was then established together with a string of sites related to European countries and cities. Surprisingly Mainstream appears to own ''news.net'' domain names for almost all regions, countries and cities around the world.
11 September 2001
The group's Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
news website
An online newspaper (or electronic news or electronic news publication) is the online version of a newspaper, either as a stand-alone publication or as the online version of a printed periodical.
Going online created more opportunities for newspa ...
attracted hundreds of thousands of unique visitors in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
in the United States, largely because of the understanding Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden (10 March 1957 – 2 May 2011) was a Saudi-born extremist militant who founded al-Qaeda and served as its leader from 1988 until Killing of Osama bin Laden, his death in 2011. Ideologically a Pan-Islamism ...
had launched the attacks from his base in Afghanistan
Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
. ''Afghanistan News.Net'' received thousands of angry and abusive emails and posts on its chat board, while hackers eventually took the site down, which resulted in the entire Mainstream Media network going down.United States Library of Congress
The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...
included ''Afghanistan News.Net'' in its 11 September Web Archive of sites portraying expressions of individuals, groups, media and institutions in the wake of the 11 September attacks.
Servers domain name hijacking
In August 2006 Mainstream Media's two hundred news portals went offline for several days when the domain name on which its Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
-based servers were hosted was stolen and sold on eBay
eBay Inc. ( ) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that facilitates consumer-to-consumer and business-to-consumer sales through its website. eBay was founded by Pierre Omidyar in 1995 and became a ...
for $20,000. Mainstream sued
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil acti ...
several parties in California where the domain, www.fm.net, was registered. Shortly before the case was concluded the 'buyer' transferred the domain name
A domain name is a string that identifies a realm of administrative autonomy, authority or control within the Internet. Domain names are often used to identify services provided through the Internet, such as websites, email services and more. As ...
to Afriregister S.A., a little-known domain name registry
A domain name registry is a database of all domain names and the associated registrant information in the top level domains of the Domain Name System (DNS) of the Internet that enables third party entities to request administrative control of a do ...
in Burundi, in Africa, which took the case out of the jurisdiction.New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
, Australia Police investigated the theft of the domain name and arrested a former Mainstream employee working in the company's Sydney office who had hacked into Mainstream's computer system
A computer is a machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences of arithmetic or logical operations (computation) automatically. Modern digital electronic computers can perform generic sets of operations known as programs. These progr ...
and transferred the domain to a fictitious person in July 2006. A month later the man sold the domain on eBay for $20,000. He was convicted and sentenced to community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...
and ordered to pay restitution
The law of restitution is the law of gains-based recovery, in which a court orders the defendant to ''give up'' their gains to the claimant. It should be contrasted with the law of compensation, the law of loss-based recovery, in which a court o ...
of $25,800. The money was never paid.
Interaction with social media
Mainstream Media's sites are linked to major Social Media Network
Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the Content creation, creation and information sharing, sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and Network virtualization, ...
s reflecting the immense on-going change in news publishing
The news media or news industry are forms of mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public. These include news agencies, print media (newspapers, news magazines), broadcast news (radio and television), and th ...
, packaging and distribution taking place today, where news is not only being consumed – but is being shared, and added to – and where the biggest growth in traffic for news sites is coming from social media referrals.
Affiliations
Mainstream Media was a forerunner to a broader enlarged group which brought in ''Big News Network'' around 2000 and led to the establishment of a network of online newspapers in collaboration with Midwest Radio Network
Midwest Radio Network is an Australian company which has a global media business concentrated in two main areas, broadcasting and digital media. The broadcasting division focuses on the operation of ''FM'' and ''AM'' ''commercial radio stations' ...
beginning in 2002. At one point in 1999 Mainstream Media through a holding company owned just under 5% of ASX-listed public company ''Midwest Radio Limited'', in which Midwest Radio Network also had a shareholding (39%)."ASX Announcements"
Australian Securities Exchange
Australian Securities Exchange Ltd or ASX, is an Australian public company that operates Australia's primary securities exchange, the Australian Securities Exchange (sometimes referred to outside of Australia as, or confused within Australia as ...
, 27 October 1999, Retrieved 21 September 2013.
References
{{Reflist
1996 establishments in Bahrain
Mass media companies of Bahrain
Mass media companies established in 1996
Mass media in Manama
British news websites
Publishing companies established in 1996
Internet properties established in 1999
Bahraini news websites