Flash! Web Sites That Serve Up News

Flash! Web Sites That Serve Up News

Beyond gathering market data and competitive intelligence, there's the continuing need for IT professionals to stay abreast of the news, defined as information collected and filtered by reporters that finds its way into some form of media. (I leave to others to debate the merits of supermarket tabloids vs. the business and financial press or even online newsletters, all of which involve issues of taste.)

The Internet certainly has made sources of news more readily available, especially for those scouring the globe for international coverage. Here is a list of sites I consider valuable and what users can expect to find on them.

Asia: www.worldtelsin.com/asia-biz-headlines/

While there are several sites that serve specific countries in the Asian market, I prefer compilations. This site, produced by Worldtel Singapore, covers six publications, including The Straits Times (Singapore), The Star (Malaysia), Bangkok Post (Thailand), Business World (the Philippines), South China Morning Post (Hong Kong) and Asian Wall Street Journal.

Europe: www.demon.co.uk/eurojournalism/media.html#newsagencies

Specifically targeted to journalists, this site is a fine collection of publications throughout Europe. Although there are too many broken hyperlinks for my appetite, the range of publications is too good to overlook.

U.S. news :wire.ap.org/

This site contains hyperlinks to news from the Associated Press, its member newspapers and broadcasters. Many of these items find their way into local, regional and national newspapers, so this is a timely way to get the hot news from the Internet. Give yourself time to get used to the layout, since AP is only distributed through its subscribers and not directly to readers; you'll understand once you access the site and its multiple forms.

Newspapers and magazines: www.ecola.com/

At the Ecola Newsstand, you find hyperlinks to newspapers and magazines worldwide. In the magazine section, there are links to more than 100 categories, from arts and entertainment to travel. All in all, the site claims links to over 6,200 publications in its searchable database.

College news: www.collegenews.com/

Keeping up on the scene in higher education is simpler with this site, a free campus newswire and student service. You also will find an index to student-run and campus newspapers nationwide.

Worldwide news: www.reuters.com/

For the broad picture, Reuters is a great source of global news. This site is segmented into financial, media and professional sections.

The site I maintain, the World Wide Web Virtual Library: Journalism (www.cais.com/makulow/vlj.html), contains links to these sites and more, categorized into 10 sections. Especially noteworthy is section 6, Internet Alert, News & Research Services. Here you find "push" technology along with alert services that update their information several times daily.

You can send John e-mail at john@journalist.com; his Web address is www.cais.com/makulow/.