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Guide to online news sources
Guardian digital edition - demo
The Guardian is offering this digital edition, which with the Observer costs £10.79 per month.
For the time being content is accessible without charge, but without the interactive options. Added 26 Nov 2004. |
Give us a minute and we'll give you the media world, plus monkeys
MediaGuardian.co.uk has been running for three and a half years and has built a reputation as the UK's leading media news website. It is
our aim to maintain our position as the site of choice for the media industry while improving and enhancing our services. (Guardian, 11 Mar 2004)
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Ananova
Since early March 2004 it is not possible to scan through the chronological sequence of news stories at Ananova. Although it is now hidden, the Search facility still works.
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allAfrica
Subscriptions have been introduced at allAfrica.com. Archived items more than 30 days old are no longer accessible for free. allAfrica.com asks for subscribers and donors to support them.
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The Guardian yesterday announced that it was going to start charging for online services, making it the last UK broadsheet newspaper to install a paid-for element on its website. The end of universal free news content has finally come. This is the future of online newspapers (The Register, 9 Jul 2003)
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Who is this guide aimed at?
This is a practical guide for workers and volunteers in the community sector, which aims to give help in the use of online news and information.
It is expected to be of special value to smaller organisations that have no budget to purchase news archives online or on CD. The guide is intended to be of value to people experienced in information work, as well as newcomers to the field.
How are newspapers changing?
Many traditional newspapers, especially 'broadsheets', currently make large amounts of their content available online. Online streaming news is provided by broadcasters such as the BBC and CNN, and by Ananova, a service originally aimed at mobile phone users. The distinction between the two types of source is becoming blurred.
All news providers will be looking at ways to obtain revenue from the content on their sites, and will be preparing for a growth in online use and a decline in sales of printed newspapers and magazines.
What sources are described here?
News sources that are general in scope and based in the United Kingdom. There are links to the sources described here in the side column.
Why do I need news?
As an individual, or member of a community organisation, news can be of great value. Large firms and government departments have specialist information workers to collect and circulate news and other information. Community organisations generally can't afford this type of service, but online access can make it easier to keep up to date.
What are the copyright restrictions on using online news?
It is against the law to download material and then make copies and sell them, unless you have permission from the copyright holders.
It is acceptable to, for example, put a summary of a news article on your web page, and provide a link to the full text on the original site. It is also OK to quote moderate amounts in a summary or article, whether on a web-page or in printed form.
In between these two extremes, there is a degree of uncertainty as to what is legal.
Should I still cut out newspaper articles and keep them in a file?
Probably.
Can I believe what I read in the papers?
This important question needs a page of its own! You may find you believe the 'facts', but not the 'interpretation'.
It is useful to look for examples of 'news management' - for example, where a story is leaked by the Government to distract attention from another issue which they do not want to receive attention.
You may wish to use your own criteria to select and prioritise. It's certain that people are trying to tell you more than you need to know. And you may need to try to find out the most important things for yourself. You will certainly have to 'learn to read between the lines'!
The trend towards charging for online news"Several newspapers have started charging for internet services but only the Wall Street Journal has enjoyed notable success with paid-for web content...
WSJ.com has 664,000 subscribers, each paying between £40 and £50 a year. The WSJ has charged for all its content since its launch in 1996 and announced the first profit from its consumer internet division in October 2002.
The FT began charging for special and archive services on FT.com last July, offering various levels of access for between £75 and £200 a year.
Initially only 17,000 of the website's 3 million users signed up, although this figure has since risen and the website broke even for the first time at the end of last year.
When the Irish Times introduced a 50 euro subscription charge it attracted only 6,000 subscribers from a user base of 1 million.
In November 2002 the website of Madrid-based newspaper El Pais started charging for all content - the first major European newspaper to do so.
For 80 euros (£53) a year, users were invited to join "the club of the well informed". However, El Pais openly admitted it expected to lose 90% of the 500,000 people who use its website.
Le Monde also charges for selected content while the Times makes readers pay for its online crossword."
Independent introduces web charges (Guardian, 24 Apr 2003)
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Why are some sources free?
Some are aiming to attract users before introducing charges, others plan to raise revenue through advertising and sponsorship.
Charges have just been introduced for use of the archives of The Times and The Sunday Times. See our Using The Times and The Sunday Times online archives page. Articles from the current issue and last seven days can still be downloaded free.
The Guardian has said that they are likely to introduce charges eventually. The Telegraph now makes only a selection of current stories available, which suggests they may introduce charges for access to full content and archives.
Most major UK-based news sources are still available without payment of a fee, and there may never be a better time to enjoy this access.
Are all online news sources similar?
There is the same variety that you will find with all web-based services.
Key differences are:
· Ananova, BBC and CNN provide a continuous stream of news. Newspaper sites will give news updates, but will also have 'daily' pages with content similar to that found in the printed edition.
· Use of images. BBC and Times use small images, others generally do not.
What is likely to be missing?
Comparing an online newspaper to the printed version, you will notice these differences:
· Few, if any, images and graphics.
· Content missing, probably due to copyright restrictions.
· Hyperlinks to on-site and off-site pages.
How news is processed and presented online
The key elements of a news article are the 'headline', 'first para', and the 'full text'. Some articles will also have a 'standfirst' - a short summary paragraph following the headline. Ananova will show you 'headline and first para' with a link taking you to full text. Other sites will give you a headline which links directly to the full text.
Journalists will generally summarise the article's content in the first paragraph. In online form an article will sometimes contain links to other relevant on-site or off-site pages.
News sources often use subject categories. An article will often appear in several different subject-based sections.
Archives
The list below gives start dates of archives, where known. The News Source column gives the full title, the Archive Search column gives a simplified site name. Newspapers that have a Sunday edition make archives available at their main site, as given here.
Using Ananova
Ananova provides short digestible stories from news agency sources, which are usually ahead of publication on other sites.
At the Ananova home page look for 'Go straight to your favourite pages' to the right of the screen. The broadest and most useful choices, UK stories or World stories.
There is a separate option to select subject categories which give a selection of stories from the main stream.
Viewing the news for a particular day
Although search facilities are useful, you may often find that you need to scan through all of today's stories, or the stories from a particular day in the past.
Viewing all today's headlines
The following provide a list of headlines for today's stories:
· Guardian today's stories
· Times then 'Full list of articles' at foot of page.
Viewing summaries of recent stories
Ananova and BBC make it easy to scan through the latest stories - headline plus first para or summary. In both cases, select News from the home page.
Although none of the sites make it easy to view summaries for a specific day, in some cases it can be done...
Guardian - viewing summaries for a specific day
1. Go to Guardian archive.
2. Enter * (asterisk) in the Keywords box. The asterisk is recognised as a 'wildcard' symbol. This means that all stories will be selected. Then enter date. Leave 'Sort by' and 'Show' untouched, then click 'Search'.
3. This gives summaries (headline and first para) for the day's stories.
Independent - viewing summaries for a specific day
Follow this link - Independent Search, leaving the search box blank.
Telegraph - viewing headlines for a specific day
1. Go to Telegraph search.
2. Enter * (wildcard), then select "Whole article" and (for example) "Today".
3. Click "Search".
Times and Sunday Times
Times and Sunday Times are now charging for use of archives - articles more than seven days old. Charge is from £1 per article. Items in our Cuttings Library pages referring to Sunday Times articles prior to 18th November no longer link to the full text. However, links for the Times are currently still live.
Overseas readers are now charged £39.99 annual subscription.
Financial Times
is now offering three levels of online subscription. A basic service is free, and more advanced services are chargeable.
Common Dreams
Common Dreams is a US-based progressive news service, which carries a selection of the best reprinted articles, many of which have expired from their original source.
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