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World News Connection® Now Available Through Dialog

Company Hosting U.S. Government's Daily Global News Monitoring Service

CARY, N.C., USA (June 5, 2003) — Dialog, a Thomson (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC) business and a leading worldwide provider of online-based information services and integrated information solutions, said today that the U.S. government's daily online global news monitoring service World News Connection® (WNC) is now available through the Dialog-branded family of information services as File 985.

WNC offers electronic searching of an extensive array of translated and English-language news and information compiled daily by the U.S. government's Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) and published by the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Technical Information Service (NTIS). Dialog is the only commercial vendor to offer access to the full file of WNC.

"The WNC is a powerful resource for those who need to track news from around the world," said Viji Krishnan, Dialog vice president of content development. "It is particularly effective in its coverage of local media sources, offering fast access to unique perspectives and analysis that can only be derived from reporting on the grassroots level. We're delighted to be working with the NTIS to manage the service, and now to make it available to our customers worldwide."

FBIS bureaus around the world monitor news sources in their regions, covering virtually all countries worldwide except the United States. Unique editorial content includes articles and reports originating in countries that are not normally included in publicly available news digests, such as Afghanistan, Bhutan, Ethiopia, Iraq, Iran, Nepal, North Korea, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tonga, Vanuatu and Vietnam. The service also includes FBIS-prepared country reports that provide detailed summaries of pertinent local issues.

Searchers with a broad range of information needs — including news agencies, humanitarian organizations, international monetary lending agencies, international affairs business managers, global corporations, supply chain managers and policy organizations — benefit from the database's fulltext and summarized newspaper articles, conference proceedings, television and radio broadcasts, periodicals and non-classified technical reports. Content is added to the online service every government business day, and generally is available for electronic searching and retrieval within 24-72 hours of original publication or broadcast.

Dialog also said today that it has completed the migration of WNC to Dialog hosting and management. All WNC user accounts are now managed by Dialog. Those accounts previously had been administered by the NTIS.

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About Dialog and The Thomson Corporation
Dialog, a pioneer in developing the technology behind electronic information retrieval, is the world leader in providing online-based information services to organizations seeking competitive advantages in such fields as business, science, engineering, finance and law.

Today, the online services provided by Dialog — offered through the Dialog®, Dialog Profound®, Dialog DataStar™, NewsEdge and Intelligence Data brands — give users the ability to precisely retrieve data from more than 1.4 billion unique records, accessible via the Internet or through delivery to enterprise intranets. Searchable content includes articles and reports from thousands of real-time news feeds, newspapers, broadcast transcripts and trade publications, plus research reports and analyst notes providing support for financial decision-making, as well as in-depth repositories of scientific and technical data, patents, trademarks and other intellectual property data. Information professionals and end-users at business, professional and government organizations in more than 100 countries prize Dialog services for their depth and breadth of content, precision searching and speed.

Based in Cary, N.C., USA, Dialog has operations in 31 other countries. Dialog (www.dialog.com) is a business of The Thomson Corporation (TSX: TOC; NYSE: TOC). With 2002 revenues of US$7.8 billion, Thomson (www.thomson.com) is a global leader in providing integrated information solutions to business and professional customers.

All designated trademarks used herein are the property of The Dialog Corporation or its subsidiaries. Registered marks are registered by The Dialog Corporation or its subsidiaries with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. All other marks are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

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