News 24 and Breaking News Internet Websites
People often find themselves at the scene of breaking news and because they have a hand held mobile device that can report the story; they can submit it to an 'internet news website'.
Internet users now find that they can put the story straight on to the 'web' without having to give it 'to a reporter'. They now become the reporter, and their name appears next to the story. In the past, similar news stories would have had to rely on mobile phones and a reporter would have been sent to the scene. For example the Tsunami that happened in 2004.
Increasing Popularity of Reporting News over the Internet.
As more and more people use the internet, they often browse for news. Sometimes they have heard a news item mentioned and are interested in finding out more about it. They may have heard about something 'on the radio or tv' and want to find out the true story. In every case they will use the internet because they know they will be able to find out more information very quickly. Some users add their preferred news website to their browser favourites, often this is because these sites also allow them to 'submit a story'.
Internet news websites makes it easy for anyone to report news using 3 simple steps.
1) Write your news item, perhaps add a picture,
2) Login,
3) Hit the submit button.
The next time they witness an event that is newsworthy they may decide to submit this story. 'Would be' reporters can be at home, at work, travelling or even on holiday and it can be night or day. Reporting a story using a mobile phone was less easy if it was after 5pm. A person trying to make the phone call may find they were speaking to 'a switchboard answerphone'. With breaking news internet websites, it is just as easy to post a news story at 3 am as it is to upload it during the day.
Breaking News
The internet is faster at reporting breaking news and there is no way that this can change. People at the scene find it easier to upload a story than to contact a news reporter. In the past they often contacted the local newspaper. The story was checked and then passed to a news agency (who then sometimes carried out their own checks) and circulated it; people no longer choose to report their news this way.
New Website Technology
Websites are now more than 'pages of static material that were hard to manage. They were often written in Hypertext markup language (HTML) sometimes using programs which used What You See Is What You Get (wysiwyg). They were like pages in a book. New websites are based on content management systems (CMS) and can manage vast amounts of information and data. One of the best is Drupal, which is also used by 'The White House', the United States House of Representatives and many multinational companies.
First On The Internet
Mainstream news media organisations realised that users went to other websites, if they did not find the story they were searching for. They tried to take shortcuts to get stories on to the web first; this is why CNN, NPR and the BBC all reported that Congresswoman Clifford was dead when she was alive. Rules (e.g. checking and double checking that sources are correct), delay the news getting onto the internet. People powered news website operate differently, news is submitted and within a very short time, others can add to, or edit the original news. Within a very short time a more accurate story evolves. Readers are aware that the news may not be entirely correct, and can watch the story as it unfolds.
Conclusion
The increasing use of the internet and the use of mobile internet access devices, is resulting in 'people powered reporting'. Website technology, for example CMS (content management systems) allows news24 websites to be optimised for storage and fast access of large quantities of information. Internet news websites are increasingly used for breaking news and news 24, where people want to find 'the full story' after hearing about it on the t.v. or radio. More and more internet users are becoming part of 'the growing army of people reporters'.
About the Author
The author has written various articles including a number of iinternet news websites, their use of Drupal and CMS and reasons why they will become first for reporting breaking news and news 24