Online news services aggregate content from multiple sources and present it in a single, easily accessible format. Google News, for example, showcases stories from thousands of third-party news sources and prioritizes the ones that interest you the most based on a variety of factors. This allows you to quickly keep up with the latest developments in your favorite topics without having to scroll through endless articles and websites.
Online news aggregators are also constantly updating their content, meaning that you can get the latest breaking news stories as they unfold. This is particularly useful when there is a major political development, a natural disaster or a celebrity scandal. The speed of these services means that you can get the information you need to stay up-to-date, whereas traditional media outlets are often constrained by printing schedules or broadcasting times.
Digital journalism also makes it possible for users to give their feedback on stories, which can inform future reporting. For example, when a story goes viral and receives lots of likes and shares, it can tell journalists what issues their readers are concerned about. This can be used to tailor follow-up coverage to those concerns, which can enhance the quality of the news experience.
Many people rely on one or more online news services to stay informed and make sense of the world around them. However, some people may not feel the value of a paid subscription. In our survey, fewer than half of people in the US and Norway think that it’s worth paying for news if the service requires them to register before they can read more than a small number of free articles.