Web Sites Offer Varying Views Of Continuing Terrorism Story
+By THOMAS E. WEBER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
October 22, 2001
LAST WEEK'S COLUMN looked at the risks of customized Web news -- specifically, the potential for individuals to set up filters that focus on narrow interests and preclude exposure to other views. Many readers wrote in to debate that issue, both pro and con. But a third group e-mailed me to say that, either way, they want to know how to stay better informed online.
It's an understandable reaction. The thirst for information runs high these days, perhaps in some ways even higher than in the immediate aftermath of Sept. 11. Back then, the tragedy of the airliner attacks was a horrible, unfolding story that commanded attention everywhere. Now, with the appearance of anthrax in the U.S., people don't just want news. They also want information to protect themselves from dangers real and imagined.
So here, then, are some tactics for using the Internet to keep well-informed. Just remember that almost anyone can produce a professional-looking Web site, making it important to evaluate sources for credibility.
SHOP AROUND: One of the best aspects of online news is the ability to easily scan multiple sources. I recommend, of course, the online Journal. But keep in mind that different Web sites are updated according to different schedules as news comes in throughout the day. If you're keeping tabs online, it can be helpful to get a quick rotation going. I tend to flip between the sites of The Wall Street Journal and a few other major newspapers, with one or more of the major television networks thrown in for good measure. (If you're looking for links to news sites, Google provides an excellent list at www.google.com/news/.)
SEARCH FAR: International sources are just as convenient as U.S. outlets online, and often represent illuminating alternatives. Not only are they gathering information with different priorities, but they also operate on different schedules because of time-zone differences. Surf the Web sites of European newspapers in the evening in the U.S., for instance, and you'll see tomorrow's front pages in Europe. Most accessible for U.S. readers are United Kingdom-based sites, including The Times of London (www.thetimes.co.uk), the Guardian (www.guardian.co.uk) and the BBC (news.bbc.co.uk). If you're fluent in other languages, you can range even wider.
SEARCH NEAR: Don't forget about sites of local newspapers and television stations. The events of the post-Sept.11 era are simultaneously global and local, and hometown organizations often zoom in on smaller pieces of the story that don't command as much attention in the national press. Boston sites, for instance, have offered more coverage on security at Logan Airport, while other city sites have covered local arrests and investigations.
FOLLOW LINKS: The Web's ability to provide material from original sources is a singular advantage. Especially with the bevy of health issues raised by the specter of bioterrorism, nonmedia sites provide fascinating reading. One example: public-health information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (www.bt.cdc.gov). You can scout for this kind of research yourself by typing appropriate words into your favorite search engine. But Yahoo does an excellent job of scouting out news-related links with its Full Coverage pages. Visit fullcoverage.yahoo.com and you'll find a list of current news topics. Clicking one summons a menu of wire-service stories, photos, video clips -- and hand-picked links to outside sources.
LET OTHERS DECIDE: An alternative to scanning many sources yourself is to find someone who has already done the work. Matt Drudge may be a controversial figure in journalism because of the dispatches he writes himself, but his Drudge Report site (www.drudgereport.com), invariably finds and links to the hottest stories elsewhere on the Web. A typically exuberant example was Oct. 13, when Mr. Drudge linked to various anthrax scares around the U.S. with the headline "Chaos Night in USA."
Another way to tap human filters is through weblogs, those link-filled diaries of personal commentary. Visit Blogger.com to browse some individual weblogs or Blogdex (blogdex.media.mit.edu) to find out the most common topics. One site that never fails to captivate me, especially lately, is MetaFilter (www.metafilter.com), a community weblog where members post provocative links and argue about them.
Still another approach is to note which features are most popular among Web users. Yahoo's news section lists that stories have been e-mailed most frequently by visitors to their friends. And the Lycos 50, found at 50.lycos.com, shows which subjects come up most often in searches at the site.
LET NEWS COME TO YOU: Rather than spending your time typing in Web addresses and waiting for pages to load, you can take advantage of a variety of services that will e-mail news updates to you. The Journal's online edition offers e-mail alerts for subscribers. Many other news sites offer news by e-mail in the form of daily digests or breaking-news flashes. In my experience testing different services, the timeliness of hot-news alerts can vary drastically. But if you have a wireless e-mail account -- and many people do now, through BlackBerry pagers or via Internet-enabled cellphones -- subscribing to news by e-mail can be a nice extra. |
