MSNBC buys social news site Newsvine

Normally we don't report acquisition news, but this one is pretty interesting. MSNBC has scooped up social news service Newsvine for an undisclosed amount. Both services are based out of Seattle and have been in talks for the last five months. Newsvine will continue to operate independently and serve up a mix of professionally produced and user-generated content, remaining a separate brand and entity from MSNBC.com. But content from Newsvine users could be making its way onto MSNBC.com in the near future.

This is a really solid deal for both parties. Newsvine and its users get a potentially larger audience with original stories being promoted to MSNBC's front page, and, at the same time, MSNBC gets a hotbed of writing and content from a fervent Newsvine user base. In its announcement, the company also quietly noted that the service would actually be better due to the hosting improvements provided by MSNBC compared to their currently "cost-conscious" setup.

Newsvine users shouldn't be too worried about listing the "indie" feeling of Newsvine though, contributing newsmakers to the service will actually have a potentially larger audience than before considering MSNBC.com pulls in a staggering 29 million unique visitors a month.

The acquisition of Newsvine marks one of the latest buy-outs of a social news service since Reddit in late 2006. While other corporate "answers" to popular social news services like Digg and Slashdot seemingly flounder (like Propeller.com, formerly of Netscape.com ilk), Newsvine is a different breed. Instead of submitting links and having a hundred or so characters to write out their opus, Newsvine is centered toward citizen journalism, and rewards its users with revenue sharing and story promotion that is bound to go up with this potentially larger audience.

For more, see the story on CNET News.com