The use of online news sites have been extremely popular in the way the average internet user is able to keep up with the news on the internet, without the hassle of having to buy a newspaper, turn on the television, or the radio.
It is perhaps the most convenient way an Internet user can get his/her news on the Internet.
Most of the major news organizations have online versions of their news on the Internet. The Washington Post and the New York Times has articles from their newspaper online. The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) radio has transcripts of their radio bulletins online and Channel Nine of Australia has collaborated with MSN to jointly put up articles on the web. Internet users have become net savvy enough to scour the web for alternative news sources. The Arab media company, Al Jezeera, has plenty of hits on its English news site, even though; it was lauded as anti-American by the Bush administration. These are just some examples on how the news which internet users read online, are mostly from media companies which have already had their hand in the production of other forms of more traditional media before venturing onto the Internet. Yet, with this in mind, it is not surprising that much of the information that an internet user reads from online news sites is mainly recycled information from these media organizations. Those with the resources to produce their news segments in other forms of media, would also have the resources to run an online news site. The Washington Post has started charging for their articles to be read online, so that they can garner some revenue from their Internet media business, whilst the New York Times require their readers to register before they are permitted to read their articles.
Hence with the way internet news sites are evolving, there is really becoming only one way where the consumer can get hold of news from these organizations and that is to pay.