vMix

Tribune Interactive is partnering with Topix.net to host free online classifieds, and also with vMix, a one-year-old video sharing startup, to add social media to its newspapers' websites.

According to Editor & Publisher, Topix will host free online general classified ads across Tribune's 12 newspaper websites, starting with baltimoresun.com. The move is a response, albeit a bit late, to Craigslist.

vMix will help Tribune online properties, such as the LA Times, Chicaco Tribune, and New York's Newsday, to manage user-generated videos, photos and blogs. The deal comes as a surprise, since vMix is merely one of hundreds of video-sharing sites competing against the heavyweight that is YouTube.

Tribune tapped vMix for the company's positioning to primarily help corporations with the Web 2.0 phenomenon, and its agreement to handle everything to get "total community interaction… video, blogs, ratings, polls - everything," vMix CEO Greg Kostello told CNET.