Relief. DataMasher. News media APIs: more on mashups | Fleet Street 2.0 | Press Gazette. Posted by on 28 August 2008 at 09:40 Tags: Journalism The idea of a website that is not merely a destination, but a “platform” or a set of tools on which users can build additional services, is nothing new — it’s a key feature of many of the thinking underlying many of the current “2.0″ startups, and has been a fundamental part of the success of Internet giants Google and Yahoo. What is new is that news organsiations are beginning to adopt this approach and are beginning to release application programming interfaces - more commonly abbreviated as APIs - to allow outside web developers easy access to their content for use in non-commercial online projects. Publishers see it as a way of expanding their reach online by gaining access to niche platforms such as new mobile phone handsets and games consoles, new niche reader communities they do not have the resources to serve directly, or simply discovering new ways of using their content by tapping into the creativity of their online users.