Topix.com has signed on to run comments sections and online forums for newspapers owned by U.S. publisher MediaNews Group Inc.

Owned by U.S. newspaper publishers Gannett Co. Inc., McClatchy Co. and Tribune Co., Topix began as an archive of online news, and is now a provider of online local news discussion forums.

Although Topix and MediaNews did not disclose financial terms, Chris Tolles, chief executive of Topix, told Reuters the two will share revenue from advertisements on forum and comment pages. MediaNews will use Topix on the sites of its 61 daily papers.

“What we're recognizing here is that this is a place where there's no coverage and no story being told at the truly local level,” Tolles told Reuters.

Topix is going after more local advertising markets, and Tolles pointed out a September eMarketer report that stated local and national businesses advertising in local markets on the Internet will spend $7.8 billion in 2011, compared to the $2.9 billion spent in 2007.

Using online discussion forums is a good way for online newspapers to get plenty of space for ads even as they cut down on the number of reporters they use to produce news.

Topix will be added to MediaNews newspapers' sites in stages, and plans to complete the process by early 2008.