News on the Web

In addition, most of the great news sites are run by print or broadcast outlets, with perhaps the most well-established and best-organized site being that of the "paper of record," http://www.nytimes.com (free registration is required for access). Most of these sites are modeled on the print version of the paper; breaking news stories from the wire services are put on the site throughout the day, supplementing stories of that morning's paper. The other significant difference in what you can read in an online version of a paper is the special material often dedicated to a particular issue or ongoing story: "The Conflict In Kosovo," on the Times site, for instance, features photo essays, maps, audio and video clips (some of these are from wire services, others are produced by the Times iteself), recent Times and AP articles, broader ranging analyses, and an interactive guide to the conflict. In this way, a medium often lambasted for shallow or insignificant coverage instead offers a depth and range that any one day's paper can't provide.

Other special features are often included on newspapers' sites: the Washington Post (http://www.washingtonpost.com), has a gateway site for all federal government services on the Web, the Christian Science Monitor (http://www.csmonitor.com) archives "Web specials" on topics like Black History Month and the anniversary of the 1848 Seneca Falls convention, and the New York Times has an extensive educational section, with links for both teachers (a daily lesson plan, tips on using newspapers in the classroom) and students (a news quiz, news summaries). Basically, online papers tend to take on the personality of their print counterparts: the Los Angeles Times is good if you want to read about the ascendancy of soybeans (http://www.latimes.com); the Wall Street Journal (http://www.wsj.com; paid subscription required for many services) features an article on stressed-out Silicon Valley types who are seeking psychotherapy; and USA Today (http://www.usatoday.com) proudly lets the online reader know that 44% of total registered voters polled believe in aliens (54% of men versus 33% of women). These papers are recognized names, well-established "brands," and their site content reflects that.

Other Web sites from offline sources include those from radio, television, wire services, and magazines. Most of these carry updates directly off the wires, so for breaking news, you might as well go where everybody else does: http://wire.ap.org. This is probably a good time to mention that most of the wire services (including the Associated Press) and newspapers, and some of the magazines carry archived material for the past two weeks free, but require a fee or paid subscription for older articles or special services (the New York Times makes you pay for the crossword). The other major wire services online include http://www.reuters.com/news and http://www.upi.com.

Television stations are stuck between what they do best (breaking news) and what they do worst (everything else) because everyone on the Internet has the first covered. Sites carry audio and video clips, but so do most of the print outlets. Most of what the TV station Web sites have going for them is name recognition. http://www.cnn.com has the advantage of simplicity and obviousness; http://www.msnbc.com (installation of a browser plug-in required) and http://www.foxnews.com serve as Web sites for both the news channels and network news, and http://www.abcnews.go.com and http://www.cbs.com/navbar/news.html are sections of larger, more programming-based sites. http://news.bbc.co.uk is exemplary for world news, and it's always fun to get a foreign perspective on our own domestic trials and tribulations. http://www.npr.org/news/ features extensive archived audio programs. The major news magazines also have their online incarnations: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/home.htm, http://cgi.pathfinder.com/time, and http://www.newsweek.com. These sites are close to the newspapers' in set-up: most feature in-depth sections both exclusive to the Web and from the printed magazine (Time's online site has perhaps the most extensive and best organized of these features, while US News Online includes the authoritative rankings of colleges and graduates schools). It may also be worthwhile to check out more alternative news magazines, like http://www.thenation.com (disconcertingly, many articles are uploaded before subscribers even receive the print version) and http://www.motherjones.com/ (which has frequent updates and "breaking news"). The non-mainstream media sources that can be difficult to find at the supermarket are easily (and cheaply) found on the Web; other sites feature even harder to find, smaller publications: for example, http://www.fas.org/asmp/asmind.html is the online version of the Federation of American Scientists' (a peace activist group) arms sales monitor-important (and scary) stuff.

All of the offline sources are pretty much the same things they are in print or on the air, only updated more frequently. Now to the online-only sites. First, general interest news sites that just pull stories off the wire and other online sources. http://www.newshub.com/ offers "news updated every 15 minutes," with the latest breaking news from sources like Fox News Online, Yahoo! News, and so on. Clicking on a headline takes users to the site the article is from originally; for instance, following the world news headline "Germany unveils graphic photos of Kosovo killings" takes users to Fox News, where they can read an article that came off the AP wire. Going to the AP wire World News: Europe section, users can then read the original article, but it's rather difficult to find, since it's not indexed in the main Kosovo section yet. So Newshub is good for finding exactly what the latest news is, but it's not really a source for original content (http://www.infojunkie.com functions similarly). Nando Times (http://www.nandotimes.com/) cuts out the middleman and runs wire stories directly on its site, but again, this isn't really to be preferred over newspaper sites because the stories don't update any more quickly, and they don't write any of their own stories. A similar site is http://www.newsindex.com, which is really a search engine; other online news services include http://www.clarinet.com/, which is really a subscription based service, but it has some "teaser" articles for general view, and http://www.newspage.com, directed primarily towards business news, but with other sections as well. http://totalnews.com, while also a search engine, is perhaps most useful as a directory of almost every online news source out there. In general, these sites are mainly grandiose portals (a "gateway" onto the Web and into content); many of them offer "personalized news," but so does http://www.cnn.com/. If you really want a good portal, most of the search engines are now positioning themselves as news portals. http://my.yahoo.com/, http://my.lycos.com/, http://infoseek.go.com/Personal/login.html, http://reg.excite.com/mps/new?pname=pfp&brand=xcit, http://my.snap.com/, http://my.excite.com/Webcrawler/, and http://my.netscape.com all allow users to (after free registration) customize what news they want to read, what stocks they want to track, etc. Most of these sites also have general news pages, though they encourage users to take advantage of the personal pages every chance they get-the more people who register, the more information they have for advertisers. The general news pages include: http://dailynews.yahoo.com/, http://news.lycos.com/headlines/TopNews/, http://infoseek.go.com/Center/News, http://nt.excite.com/news, http://www.Webcrawler.com/news/, and http://home.netscape.com/news/. Many of these are front ends for a partner site (ABC News, MSNBC), and clicking on a headline will take users to that site; the rest mostly get their news from Reuters. These are obviously good bets for anyone interested in setting up a portal, but there are better choices (i.e., where these sites get their news) for just getting the latest news.

The big thing before the "portal" idea was "push technology," which automatically displays many types of information on a user's desktop. The standard bearer for this trend was Pointcast; despite losing its status as hip new thing, it's still soldiering along at http://www.pointcast.com. Once users have installed the Pointcast software, a news ticker runs across their desktop; clicking on a headline brings up a window with the full article. It's kind of slow (though nowhere near as slow and buggy as its main competitor, http://www.desktopnews.com/), and can be very distracting. The AP also has a ticker service, but it runs in the browser (it's a Java application) and isn't as well designed as the others, with less opportunity for customization. Another site is http://listentothenews.com/, which offers (as you might imagine) RealAudio clips of newscasts from around the world, including PBS, NPR, and all the major commercial networks, as well as the BBC, and even Yugoslavian radio reports.

One thing the Web does beautifully is to fragment interests till everyone has their own Web page designed to apply exactly to their demographic. It is in some sense a disturbing trend: whatever good there is in monolithic news organizations, it is that everyone's literally on the same page. We're all thinking about Kosovo, or Littleton-we experience things as a whole, and they shape us as a society. The "where were you when _____" question becomes less and less potent as our experience of the times we live in is shaped by the narrow media band we inhabit. That being said, there are a number of very good news sites on the Web that are about one thing in particular, perhaps because the Web is ideal for practicing that sort of minute specialization. Tech news is, as one might imagine, very well covered, with sites ranging from the business-oriented (http://www.nbnn.com, http://www.news.com) to the more idiosyncratic: http://www.slashdot.org proudly proclaims itself "news for nerds" and does an exemplary job of providing all the features that make people so excited about the Web as a news source in the first place. It is not for technology novices, as most readers are well versed in computer jargon, but it's an excellent example of a niche news service. Articles are posted by staff members on topics that range widely, including software and hardware developments, new game releases, business deals involving high tech companies, and so forth. A recent lead story, "VA buys LHS, Enlightened Solutions," offered links from the posting lead to:

• the article itself (on http://www.techWeb.com, another source for tech news on the Web), which is about VA Research (a company which manufactures computers running the Linux operating system) buying two of its competitors;
• to information about the user who e-mailed the staff member with the article;
• to e-mail the staff member in question;
• to the Linux homepage;
• to the homepage of one of the articles involved;
• to all other articles posted by the staff member on slashdot;
• and to all other articles on the site about Linux.

There are also threaded discussion boards where users can sound off about the articles. (The service can also be personalized.) As a news service that caters to the needs of a particular community, this is exemplary.

Other examples of niche news sources include http://www.disasternews.net (disaster news), http://www.cybereditions.com/aldaily (arts and letters news), http://www.lawnewsnetwork.com (legal news), http://www.planetark.org (environmental news), http://www.scienceagogo.com (cheeky Australian science news) and http://www.newswise.com/menu-sm.htm (a no-nonsense server aimed primarily at reporters in search of science news stories; paid subscription required for some articles). http://www.apbonline.com focuses on crime and law enforcement news, catering both to those who fear crime and those who are fascinated by it, with more-than-slightly-disturbing features like the "serial killer atlas" (click on a state to find out who prowls it) and a live RealAudio feed of police scanners from major cities. (Another crime site is http://www.ganglandnews.com/column.htm, which focuses on Mafia news.) The "good news" trend (though the question of for whom this is good news is open to debate) started off the Internet, and there are sites dedicated to it such as http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org. There are many, many sites on "entertainment news," including http://www.eonline.com/ and http://www.mrshowbiz.com/, but they tend to be pretty fluffy. As far as the behemoth that is sports news on the Web, noteworthy sites include http://www.cnnsi.com, http://espn.com/, http://www.sportingnews.com, and http://www.foxsports.com.

There are dozens of news sites dedicated to political or government news, including such notables as the Washington Post Company's http://www.legislate.com, which tracks both state and federal legislation and policy, http://www.stateline.org, dedicated to state news (and featuring extensive state budgetary and population data-as well as links to state government Web pages), and http://www.policy.com, which is every policy wonk's dream. Perhaps more interesting is getting the latest government news straight from the horse's mouth: http://whitehouse.gov/WH/html/briefroom.html (White House briefing room), http://thomas.loc.gov (a no-nonsense searchable database of congressional activity, including currently debated bills, etc.), http://www.house.gov (while short on news items, it does have a summary of recent House activity and a schedule for upcoming debates), http://www.senate.gov (a bit more colorful than the House site, with a bill search feature as well), and http://supct.law.cornell.edu/supct (the Supreme Court doesn't have an official Web site, but its Project Hermes uses this site to disseminate the text of decisions) all offer that direct access. Another good site for federal information is http://www.fedworld.gov. Getting back to news sites, http://www.un.org/News/ offers a no-frills gateway to recent UN press releases, decisions, conferences and briefings.

All that politicking must lead to something, and all sides of the political debate have a considerable online presence. It's rather scary to go to http://www.drudgereport.com and realize that the persnickety, grammatically dubious ravings of one man in a silly hat affect our national discourse, but others may disagree; nevertheless, it's interesting to see what all the fuss is about. Other Web-based bastions of conservative thought include http://www.thefed.com, a Web-only newspaper, and http://www.conservativenews.org/, more of a news server. http://www.oneworld.org/ is an internationally focused clearinghouse for social justice organizations and features frequently updated dispatches from around the world. http://www.commondreams.org/ and http://www.lbbs.org/ are two news sites from the other end of the political spectrum; the latter is the online presence of Z magazine, and though it technically belongs up there with all the print resources, Znet is such a good Web resource, with great news-gathering range, and lots of analysis from abroad range of commentators-for instance, Noam Chomsky, Michael Moore, and Mumia Abu-Jamal on Kosovo, that it really stands alone from the print version. The problem with many of these sites is the slippery slope the Web creates between slightly kooky, somewhat earnest people and their even more kooky, gravely earnest compatriots. All the crazies out there can and do publish their thoughts on the Web: it's really up to the reader to judge what is trustworthy and what is not.

This is a great time to start talking about media commentary. One thing the Web allows is an endless stream of commentary-because it can appear more quickly and stay longer than any other news source, it's a great medium for the elevated sort of gossip that characterizes media criticism. http://www.slate.com/ a Microsoft venture helmed by veteran pundit Michael Kinsley, runs extensive daily analyses of the morning's papers, critiques of the Sunday roundtable shows, and commentary on the various spins given to stories, in addition to more standard news articles, features, culture criticism, and other magazine staples. http://www.salon.com/, a San Francisco-based magazine, has excellent news stories as well as critiques, and a stable of talented columnists. http://www.ojr.org is an online journalism review affiliated with USC, while smaller sites like http://www.scn.org/news/newspeak use the iconoclastic nature of the Web to put their own spins out there; this particular one cites examples of outlandish and hypocritical explanations given by titans of industry and politicians to excuse their behavior. Weighing the trustworthiness of smaller Web sites is relatively easy compared to holding the mainstream media accountable for its more egregious abuses-something all of these sites try to do. Let's end on a fun note by looking at sites that offer news humor and satire. The following three sites represent the main sorts of news humor there is on the Web: http://www.comedycentral.com/dailyshow (although The Daily Show is a television show, the site has much Web-only material), which gives sarcastic commentary on the day's stories; http://www.newsoftheweird.com, true stories from around the world that show just how strange, perplexing, or just plain stupid people can be; and http://www.theonion.com, which makes up news stories just for the fun of it. Some of the content on these sites is risqué, but it's all in good fun (and most truly adult pages have warnings before you enter them).

To say there's a lot out there is an understatement: given the plethora of news sources available on the Web, users can choose one that will tell them exactly what they want to hear (personalized news services can omit crime, disaster, war and world news and include entertainment and health bulletins) or seek out what they feel they ought to know. The expansiveness of the world's news sources is both a blessing and a curse. Though print journalism may be limited in its scope and breadth, it a least creates a community of readers. A certain melancholy can set in when one considers that it's impossible to look at every on of the millions of good sites on the Web. Ultimately, perhaps what is meant to bring us closer--know now what's happening across the world--actually ends up driving us further apart.