The Canadian Press (CP) launched a mobile news site this week that allows news junkies to access national and local coverage on their cell phones. Content will be supplied by CP, the Globe and Mail, Toronto Star, Transcontinental Media and CTV in the form of photos, text and video.

Developed by the Associated Press, which launched its own mobile network last May that has since accumulated 1,000 news sources, CP Mobile offers users the option to search, save, share and rate news and photos personalized to individual choice of topics. Users can also select news according to their location preference (hometown, business destination or favourite cities) from categories such as business, sports, hockey, entertainment, technology, science, travel and wacky news. (CP is the exclusive distributor of The Associated Press in Canada.)

Full details about advertising and sponsorships are not yet hammered out, but Charles Messina, director, sales and marketing at CP says they hope to monetize the content. Individual news providers will be responsible for selling advertising on both their own and CP content. Options like selling banner ads above news stories may be available to them.

‘It’s a big benefit to users for the convenience alone, and also a great opportunity for local and national advertisers to target relevant messages to consumers always on the go,’ says Angus Frame, director of digital media for GlobeandMail.com, in a release.

CTV’s coverage includes seven major markets of British Columbia, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Meanwhile, Transcontinental is on board with coverage from community newspapers published in Eastern Canada including Newfoundland’s The Telegram and Charlottetown’s The Guardian.