In the last two hours I became increasingly aware of yet another trend. It's most likely not anything new, and I'm coming to it late as it is. Now, not only are traditional news gathering companies using 'citizen journalism' to keep costs down, but the sites themselves are getting more democratized and facing competition from web entrepreneurial start ups.
Digital news aggregate services are competing for what little time many people are sparingly giving to news issues. Ongo, Alternet and Track180 are the 'indie' of news gathering upstarts, with what will inevitably follow dozens more.
It's not enough that Twitter, Facebook and LindedIn feeds give you updates by the seconds, now beta sites will be competing for your 'discriminate' perspectives. Customizable feeds will make users feel that they control the information they wish to know. Anything else that doesn't fall into their interests can be conveniently edited out of sight, out of mind.
Who are the creators of these sights? They may or may not be journalists but consumers of news. Who isn't nowadays? Everyone is an expert and can post comments. It's up to you to decide which sources are worth the two minutes of your time. I recommend visiting more than one just to play it safe for truthfulness sake. Happy surfing!
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