Often vexed and pondered over, most of us take news for granted, yet defining it and quantifying it can sometimes be a bit of a muddle.
Firstly, let's ask ourselves the question: what exactly is news?
It's when you read a newspaper, listen to a radio broadcast or visit a website, perhaps. It's when you learn something new that you had no awareness of previously. A relative term, news can be as fresh as a daisy or as old as yesterday's pizza - news is always in a state of flux.
The internet has catapulted the potential for news aggregation and distribution to another level.
Its dynamism has alienated traditional news purveying mediums such as radio and television - neither of these has the level of immediacy and flexibility of online.
A non-linear medium, online has the potential to overshadow, yet arguably never bypass, newspapers because its always-on, live and up-to-date
Global reach is another major factor that has contributed to the success of online news. Newsrooms today are mindful of their global audience, and the savvy ones tailor their news agendas accordingly.
And the really savvy ones think beyond the box and harness other means, apart from online, to distribute their choice news morsels.
Multimedia used to be a dirty word among journalists and online news providers - technological limitations and lack of innovation being the main culprits that contributed to its lacklustre reputation.
But things have changed...
News giants such as BBC News Online now positively embrace the opportunity to distribute their news in a variety of different forms: audio, video, etc.
As the audience has become more discerning, so have the well-established newsrooms become more specialised and turned to multimedia.
Quick access to a variety of news sources is vital in this information age, and there are multitudes of different ways you can achieve this.
Most news websites now offer RSS (Really Simple Syndication), which is basically a news feed that lets you know when websites have added new content to their sites. To receive an RSS news feed, you firstly need a News Reader, which is a piece of software that aggregates the feeds from various websites and allows you to read the news items.
On your mobile
You can also get news sent directly to your mobile phone. News websites such as BBC News Online offers a brilliant functionality that allows you to subscribe to an SMS service whereby breaking news can be sent as a text message to your mobile phone.
News podcasts
Podcasts are another great way of getting your news fix. And, predictably, the BBC paves the way when it comes to exploiting the goldmine of digital content they create.
As part of a trial, BBC News is currently offering a selection of news programmes as downloads and podcasts.
A visit to Podcasting News will give you immediate access to a series of news podcasts covering subjects such as current affairs, opinion, politics and entertainment.
Published on 19th January
