First Media Directory for Second Life(TM) hits the stands - but you've got to be an avatar to get it

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(Free-Press-Release.com) October 13, 2008 -- The Virtual Worlds Press Club, an amalgamation of journalists from various news media operating in Second Life(TM), has now released its long-awaited Media Directory.

"The directory will serve three purposes," said Holman Tibbett, president of the VWPC. "It will allow advertisers the chance to select the right publication for their products, it will keep journalists and editors informed about the competition, and it will make residents of Second Life more aware of the news media around them."

While Second Life represents what some consider to be the cutting edge of social communications, it has been plagued by an ironic lack of internal mass communication.

"It's very easy for individuals to communicate in Second Life," said Tibbett, "and even to hold productive meetings of up to 40 people. But there is no Second Life universal social media such as we find in the shared newspapers and magazines of the real world. Some of the newspapers here have remarkable numbers, topping 100,000 readers, but there is little communication between them, and many residents still don't know they exist. With the publication of the media directory we hope to change that by making residents more aware of the newspapers, magazines, radio and television stations available in Second Life."

The directory comes in a pdf format and, since the payment for the directory is in "Lindens," the monetary unit used within the virtual world, it can only be bought by those who have an avatar in Second Life. All proceeds from the sales of the directory will go to the Broken Pencil Fund.

"We had originally planned to give it away for free," said Tibbett, "but one of Second Life's more prominent publishers became ill and had to go to hospital. There isn't much in the way of job benefits for journalists in world so we decided to sell the directory and pool the money into the Broken Pencil Fund, created specifically to help in-world journalists facing unexpected medical fees."

For more information, please contact Holman Tibbett at holman.tibbett@gmail.com.

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