There was a time when news travelled at a pace that was so slow that when one country heard of an event taking place in another country the news was literally hour’s old or even in some cases days old.
There was a key breakthrough in the way in which news was delivered to one place from another by the introduction of the telephone. The telephone transformed the way in which we communicate and played a vital role in the evolution of the newspaper as a way of distributing news.
Hot news became a necessity for people all over the world from the larger cities to the smaller ones. Dedicated news agencies began to come into being around this time as the demand for the latest news increased. These news agencies changed the variety and scale of news and the importance of it in the everyday lives of people across the globe.
Television gave the next major change in the way that news was dispersed. This visual medium gave people images to see that related to the news article making the news more real. This way of imparting local and world news was readily accepted and sought after by people in a way that was never imagined. Next came the 24 hours, 7 days a week news channels that dedicated themselves to delivering news from all over the world. As events happened live visuals were aired straight into people’s homes which began the concept of ‘Breaking News’.
Breaking news was the most sought after kind of news that all news agencies wanted to be the first to broadcast and inform the world about. Any news that was more than 5 minutes old became old news. The haste to become the first to catch a news story and be the first to deliver it became the prime concern and superseded all other considerations.
Then, there came the internet! This revolution changed our lives and information that was available at the click of a button became to be taken for granted. Our idea on what is hot and new is constantly changing and has assisted in the decline of newspapers as the news they offer are now considered old and stale. Even though television news was able to broadcast news as it happened, it still had geographical limitations. The Internet news does not have these limitations or restrictions. If you are connected to the internet you can access news from anywhere in the world. These news stories are more often than not accompanied with videos and analysis and some even have additional in depth features.
What makes the latest news on the internet so appealing to us?
The main reason and probably the most important to many people is that it is free. The only thing that you require is an internet connection to enable you to access the content that is available. It basically means that there is one less bill to pay within a household. Another reason is that the user is able to pick and choose exactly what it is they are going to read. There are no restrictions as to which news story you can read. With television news and newspapers the only option was to read or watch what was being offered by that particular television channel or newspaper.
With the constant increase in which the speed of the internet is delivered to us we can be sure that breaking news via the internet is the way forward.
