Public Address System

A companion site, Public Address System at, launches today at publicaddress.net/system with an array of features aimed at better serving its growing reader community - and at better harnessing the knowledge and experience of that community.

The key new feature is the Public Address Café, a discussion forum that Public Address founder Russell Brown hopes will bring in knowledgeable New Zealanders who have been hesitant about joining the fray in the blogosphere.

"I wanted to do something a little different than standard blog comments," says Public Address founder Russell Brown. "Our preference will be for participants to register under their real names, and we will moderate for quality. We will also make a point of inviting people with relevant knowledge and experience to weigh in on particular topics."

Public Address System also sees the launch of a new blog and discussion forum dedicated to the Documentary Channel on Sky TV; a feature called "ourtube", which will allow readers to let each other know about New Zealand-related multimedia on YouTube and elsewhere, and Monitor, a user-generated forum for TV discussion.

The new site makes extensive use of RSS feeds. Feeds showing the top stories on Scoop.co.nz, the most recent posts on Planet of the Journals' comprehensive New Zealand blog listing and the latest picks in Graham Reid's 'Music from Elsewhere' will display directly on the page. At the same time, Public Address System users will be able to subscribe to feeds from all features on the site, down to the level of individual forum topics.

"We've always been aware of our reader community and we've had a lot of fun bringing it out into the real world with our Karajoz Great Blend events," says Brown. "The aim of Public Address System is to keep that community informed, entertained and connected through the day. We have a few other ideas for the future, but the key to the site is really the people who'll use it."

ENDS

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