NT: Does anyone in your business think that newspapers should cease to publish paper copies and just become virtual subscription news sources?
GD: No one has figured out a successful, lasting business model for news Web sites yet. We’re all still finding our way.
Diana’s sudden death made him realize that a “Web site needed to be on its toes, around the clock.”20
More recently Nielsen/Net Ratings indicated that 3.9 million site visitors checking in from work and 1.9 million checking in from home went to CNN.com for information on November 8, 2000—the day after the 2000 presidential election—a record audi- ence. Site visitors not only wanted to read the news, they wanted to interact with other readers. They left 13,292 postings on CNN.com’s message boards.21
The broadcast journalism sites offer depth and timeliness in news coverage. While the most popular is CNN, which the Alexa toolbar shows as ranked 26th out of all Web sites, there are many from which to choose.
CBS News
http://www.cbsnews.com
CBS television viewers can find multimedia clips from their favorite news shows at this Web site. If you missed “60 Minutes” or want to share a segment with a friend, you’ll find you can easily locate the stories and send them by e-mail, including the multi- media links. CNN and ABC News have instituted charges for their multimedia clips, but CBS News Videos proudly claim that they are
“Always Free.” CBS will also e-mail registered users news sum- maries and breaking news alerts.
CNN
http://www.cnn.com
The first major broadcaster to claim a presence on the Web, CNN attracted one million site visitors in its first two days online.
CNN also operates CNN/Money (its financial counterpart at http://money.cnn.com), the “AllPolitics” Web site at http://
www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS, and CNN/si with Sports Illustrated magazine. The top broadcast journalism Web site, CNN’s traffic
even eclipses traffic to the New York Times site. Unfortunately, CNN recently began charging for access to its video stories. The NewsPass is affordable at $4.95 per month or $39.95 per year, and, in August 2002, was the only way to see the exclusive Al Qaeda ter- rorist training tapes on the Web.
MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.com
This Web site represents a $500 million joint venture between NBC and Microsoft. A strong news site, MSNBC regularly features
“Event Chats.” Event Chats are online encounters with special guests usually conducted in a virtual auditorium with only chat- ters’ questions and guest answers visible. On some occasions, however, chatter comments are visible during Event Chats.
Although Event Chats’ guests are often politicians, other guests include sports figures, health professionals, authors, entertainers, and presidential advisors. Another forum, called “News Chats,” is always available (where MSNBC viewers can discuss the news online while watching the shows). The chat schedules are posted at http://www.msnbc.com/chat/default.asp.
National Public Radio http://www.npr.org
Individuals may hear orread news at NPR’s site. The advantage is that you may continue working on other computer projects while you launch hourly audio news updates or listen to entire shows through NPR Audio Stream, including “All Things Considered,” “Fresh Air,” or, for laughs, “Wait. Wait. Don’t Tell Me!”
The emphasis on audio is apropos for the radio shows. (You’ll need RealPlayer or Windows Media Player.) Also available: six years of audio archives; if you want to hear everything Daniel Schorr has said in the archive from the past six years, it’s a simple keyword search away.
Online Newshour with Jim Lehrer http://www.pbs.org/newshour
Individuals who enjoy the incisive reporting of Jim Lehrer and others on the erudite staff of the PBS news program will truly appreciate the show’s Web site. The site’s archives go back to 1996, so site users can search for a segment they remember having seen and revisit the stories they originally found provocative. The Online Newshour also offers video and audio of selected news.
Five free daily e-mail newsletters and one special weekly newslet- ter designed for schoolteachers are available.
BBCi
http://news.bbc.co.uk
The British Broadcasting Corporation’s news site ranks at num- ber 39 for popularity on the Web. The site offers e-mail alerts plus something different—a free news ticker that you can download. It is available for Windows and Macs. Once downloaded, the news ticker sits on your desktop and provides automatic updates for news, sports, and weather throughout the day. If you see a story that interests you, just click on the ticker’s link and it takes you to the BBCi’s news site for details.
C/NET: Tech News First http://news.com.com
C/NET aims to satisfy a niche—but a big niche. A high-ranking technology site, it is a vortal (vertical portal) specifically tailored to news for techies. Registered C/NET users can choose from up to 28 newsletters (including “Virus & Security Alert,” “Handhelds Newsletter,” and various shopper oriented alerts). C/NET also pro- vides software downloads, product prices and comparisons, and hardware and software reviews.