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Name of Site: Frontline World PBS
URL: http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/
Load Time: Slow
Ease of Navigation: Walk in the Park
Plug Ins Required: Real Player
Review: It may seem strange, but when you take commercials out of television,
all of a sudden the quality seems to take a quantum leap. PBS has created
a streaming video site of their publicly broadcast channel, where journalists
travel far and wide bringing you the stories no hamburger joint or petrol
station can be bothered sponsoring. On demand reports looking into water
wars in Bolivia, gun smuggling in Sierra Leone, Sri Lankan terrorists,
and the occasional feel-good story, gives one a slightly different perspective
on life on earth than one might see on the news that is generally used
as filler between the ads on commercial TV. - SS
Name of Site: Canada.com News
URL: http://www.canada.com/national/
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: With so much of our news coming from the US, I thought I'd jump
across the border and see the Canadian perspective - so easy to do, with
this here cable modem. Seems to be a slightly different angle on things
up in the cool country. They are cool on war; cool about legalizing drugs,
and like a nice cool game of Ice Hockey to round out the week. The news
is all there, but there does seem to be a slightly more 'David Suzuki'
approach to things. They seem that little bit more aware about the world
outside their own borders and just that little bit cynical towards the
ways of their Yankee cousins. Plenty of good local and fun stuff packed
in here too. - SS
Name of Site: One World.net
URL: http://www.oneworld.net/
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Real Player
Review: 1,250 organisations all working for social justice, have pitched
in to build this huge current affairs portal. With so much bad stuff going
on around the world, and so many people working tirelessly to make things
better, you just won't hear about it in the mainstream media, where a
kid down a well can hold the headlines for months. There is a veritable
avalanche of articles here. But this is more than just a news site. It
is a place where you can post your own video op-ed, participate in events
and campaigns, volunteer for organisations, and shop for products that
promote a sustainable and just future, which is kind of the only future
we can have. - SS
Name of Site: ABC News
URL: http://abcnews.go.com/
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Real Player
Review: I was forced to watch a 15 second commercial before being allowed
into this site - convergence at work. Even more prime advert real estate
on the home page and pop up window, but once accustomed to the onslaught,
the news reading began. All that advertising must make for better news
reporting, or does it just pay the star anchors bigger salaries? It is
hard to tell. It certainly isn't paying for their bandwidth, because you
have to pay to watch the video reports. However, all the news is very
up-to the minute and is easy to read. There is also plenty of lifestyle
and interactive content to distract you from the harsh reality of the
actual news reports. Now I know my ABC, let's go shopping. - SS
Name of Site: World News
URL: http://www.worldnews.com/
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Need a Map
Plug Ins Required: Real Player
Review: Somewhere back in those heady days of dotcom madness and domain
name buy-ups, the owners of worldnews.com must have kept a level head,
as they bought up big and mapped out their plans for virtual domination.
Now they are a massive news portal, drawing on all the top news sources
and serving up the news to every continent, rebranded just the way the
locals like it. 7 million visitors a month are soaking up the trouble
spot news, finance, travel, sport, health and fashion, and maybe even
learning a little more about the world they live in, by clicking from
one world news sub-site to the next. - SS
Name of Site: Google News
URL: http://news.google.com/
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: In beta phase at the time of review, the masters of the search
engine algorithm have decided to turn their hand to tweaking themselves
to see what happens. Fully automated, this site mathematically analyses
the news stories Google indexes and organises them into an on-line publication
you'd almost swear was being run by a team of editors. Sure there are
occasional glitches, but that's what beta testing is all about. All you
need is a computer program to read the news for you and another to listen
to it and the news universe can carry on completely unhindered by human
intervention. - SS
Name of Site: Africa Daily
URL: http://www.africadaily.com/
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Need a Map
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: Part of the World News Supernet, I thought I ought to see how
they handle the Dark Continent. Basically, besides a few more shootings,
machete attacks and HIV crises, the news is much the same, but that could
be more to do with the way World News does business, which is by acting
as a conduit for news reports, rather than investigating and reporting
themselves. Still, it is fascinating to get a glimpse into the day-to-day
machinations of a place we rarely hear about unless something totally
outrageous happens, like genocide, plague, pestilence or terror. - SS
Name of Site: Wired News
URL: http://www.wired.com/
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Flash, QuickTime
Review: I know, you are so sick of hearing such bad news everywhere you
turn, you just want to disappear into cyberspace where everything is wonderful
and the only news you'll ever hear is how cool the next new gadget is.
Well this is your sanctuary. The folks at Wired see the humble ones and
zeros humming through their motherboards as our saviours and they are
here to bring the good news. Hallelujah! Actually there's more going on
than mere salvation. Business, culture, technology, politics, humour -
it really is a whole new world in here. And the Wired gang are really
hip cats, too. Before long you'll be hopping on your Segway(tm) and heading
to the newsagents to get the hard copy. - SS
Name of Site: News of the Weird
URL: http://www.newsoftheweird.com
Load Time: Scorching
Ease of Navigation: Walk in the Park
Plug Ins Required: None
Review: Chuck Shepherd is herding us all away from the mainstream with
his heavily syndicated collection of the strange and ridiculous news stories
we know and love so much more than the headlines. It's a simple site but
has a couple of cool features, like a map of (only in) America where weirdness
is searchable by state, the chance to submit your own stories, buy his
20 years of compilation in book form, and the chance to get the weird
news filing your in tray each week. The world is full of freaks, and you
are one of them. - SS
Name of Site: BBC News
URL: http://news.bbc.co.uk/
Load Time: Normal
Ease of Navigation: Signposted
Plug Ins Required: Real Player, Flash
Review: If you like your news Anglo-centric, what better place to begin
than the jolly old BBC, eh, what? Somehow they have managed to cross into
the new millennium with most of their values intact. Real journalists
travel the globe and bring the reports in from the front line, while most
commercial presenters sit in front of cardboard backdrops. The BBC has
blossomed on the net with a true world-wide audience, radio network, video
streaming reports, in-depth analysis and a great section called "talking
point" where people from all nations can add their view to the hot
topics of our time. A nice looking site to boot. Pip, pip, hoorah! - SS
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