Reuters has become the first news agency to assign a reporter to write from Second Life.

Adam Pasick is one of over 850,000 residents of Linden Labs' Second Life, and he is also the first reporter from an established news agency to be dispatched to the online world, the New York Times reports. Pasick's Second Life alter-ego is Adam Reuters, who will report (video) from a virtual building where users can enter and read Reuters stories; they can also read stories that Pasick/Adam Reuters files specifically from the Second Life beat.

Over the past few months, businesses have begun establishing a presence in Second Life. Many companies say doing so is a vital way to stay in touch with customers who are becoming increasingly resistant to traditional forms of media.

"It's an easy way for a blue-chip, traditional organization to get virtual world credibility," Edward Castronova, author of Synthetic Worlds: The Business and Culture of Online Games, explains.