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Though its been suggested for some time, Reuters senior VP and GM Steven Schwartz confirmed to his audience at the Syndicate Conference that the competition for advertising dollars with the Internet has the traditional media powers very concerned.

The multi-billion dollar business of online advertising took center stage when Steven Schwartz spoke at the session, "Syndicating the Publishing World" at the Syndicate Conference.

He noted how Internet advertising is up 26 percent this year, to $14.7 billion. Online, people spent $2 billion for content, and that came from only 12 percent of Internet users.

Reuters doesn't suffer the same issues as many media companies. Schwartz observed that they don't have a print or TV bias when it comes to creating content.

"It used to be that the mainstream media could get away with speaking with the voice of God and being the high priests of news. Consumers will no longer accept that. We in the mainstream media have to adapt," Schwartz said.

Reuters acts as both publisher and syndicator. About one billion people read their news each day. And more of those people get their news online instead of from big media sources, like newspapers and television.

"It's how consumers want it, when they want it and where they want it," said Schwartz. "What is clear is that consumers will define this, not media companies."

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David Utter is a staff writer for WebProNews covering technology and business.