Founded in 1997 by Christopher Laird Simmons under his parent company Neotrope, Send2Press Newswire came into being to offer a fresh approach to the conventional public relations scene. The idea sparked when Christopher, an experienced PR professional, decided to create an affordable platform that would help small and medium-sized businesses distribute their news announcements—a service he felt was far too expensive and out of reach for smaller companies relying on traditional PR agencies. Today, the site continues to operate as a completely independent company under the ownership of Neotrope and its original founder. Today, Send2Press Newswire is still run by Christopher and his team and is mainly focused on corporate and business news. Because it is a press release distribution platform rather than a traditional newspaper, they cover a massive variety of direct company announcements, including technology updates, entertainment releases, healthcare breakthroughs, and non-profit news. They're based in the United States (specifically California) and have made a name for themselves among businesses, PR students, and journalists looking for a direct line to the latest happenings in the corporate world. One interesting fact: A unique fact about Send2Press Newswire is how early it embraced the power of the internet. Founder Christopher Simmons launched the online distribution platform in 1997—a full year before the search engine Google was even invented—making it one of the oldest digital press release services on the web today.