PR Newswire today announced it has taken a leadership position in the domestic arm of XBRL International, a consortium of over 200 companies working to adopt XBRL as an accepted global standard for financial reporting.

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PR Newswire said that staff member Michelle Horowitz has been appointed Chairperson of the XBRL-U.S. Adoption Committee, replacing Paul Penler of Ernst & Young, whose term has expired. Mr. Penler will continue on the XBRL-U.S. Steering Committee.

XBRL, or eXtensible Business Reporting Language, is an XML-based standard that permits the automatic exchange and reliable extraction of financial information across all software formats and technologies. It reduces the need to enter financial information more than one time, minimizes the risk of data entry error and eliminates the need to manually key information. In announcing Ms. Horowitz' appointment, PR Newswire also added it has become a member of XBRL-U.S., a part of XBRL International which is hosted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants.

"The benefits of XBRL have been largely accepted by most industry executives and pundits. Now is the time to have a focus on adoption," said Eric Cohen, Chair of the XBRL-U.S. Steering Committee. "The current challenges for XBRL-U.S. are to begin incorporating XBRL into earnings statements and annual reports. Michelle's ability to nurture business alliances, as well as her keen understanding of the issues concerning XBRL adoption, will be of tremendous value as we look to build upon the momentum generated by her predecessor, Paul Penler."

As chairperson of the XBRL-U.S. Adoption Committee, Ms. Horowitz will lead the organization's efforts to build awareness for XBRL as a technology that enables financial institutions and corporations to better communicate the complex information contained within financial reports. Amongst her many duties, Ms. Horowitz will liaise with key software developers, regulators, analysts, public companies, and other organizations to facilitate the development and testing of XBRL-enabled applications.

"Working for PR Newswire, I am intimately familiar with the challenges that companies face when communicating and comprehending financial reports," commented Michelle Horowitz. "XBRL offers a simple and effective mechanism for companies to present financial information and for investors and analysts to interpret the data. I look forward to leading XBRL-U.S.'s push to make XBRL a universally accepted business tool."

Horowitz continued, "As pioneers of the commercial newswire industry, PR Newswire's membership in XBRL-U.S. is indicative of the company's commitment to lead the way in researching and developing new products, services and technologies that enable our clients to communicate with their key stakeholders -- the media, financial community and the general public."

Since earning an MBA from Joseph L. Rotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Ms. Horowitz has spent seven years successfully managing partnership and marketing programs for a variety of U.S. and international companies, including Digitalwork.com, Ameritech and EEP, a Paris-based marketing firm. Currently, Ms. Horowitz is responsible for leading PR Newswire's strategic alliance and partnership strategies, where she specializes in initiatives designed to strengthen the company's communications offerings. In addition to spearheading PR Newswire's XBRL efforts, Ms. Horowitz has secured numerous alliances with leading news and financial communication companies and implemented the company's wireless entry strategy.

About eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL)

XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) is a royalty-free, open specification for software that uses XML data tags to describe financial information for public and private companies and other organizations. XBRL benefits all members of the financial information supply chain by utilizing a standards-based method with which users can prepare, publish in a variety of formats, exchange and analyze financial statements and the information they contain. More than 200 of the world's leading accounting, financial, government and software organizations are involved in the adoption and use of XBRL. For more information on XBRL please go to www.xbrl.org.

About PR Newswire Association LLC

PR Newswire Association LLC (www.prnewswire.com) provides electronic distribution, targeting and measurement services on behalf of some 40,000 customers worldwide who seek to reach the news media, the investment community and the general public with their up to the minute, full-text news developments. Established in 1954, PR Newswire has offices in fourteen countries and routinely sends its customers' news to outlets in 135 countries in 27 languages. Utilizing the latest in communications technology, PR Newswire content is considered a mainstay among news reporters and investors as well as increasing numbers of private individuals. PR Newswire is a subsidiary of United Business Media plc of London.

Contact: Rachel Asche, Director of Public Relations, PR Newswire at 212.282.1929 or rachel_asche@prnewswire.com.

SOURCE: PR Newswire Association LLC