Newser’s motto is read less and know more.  Its founder, Michael Wolff says the purpose of the site is to be a one-stop shop for news, and even better in “2 paragraphs or less.” 

I like the idea, but I don’t know if I like Wolff.  I think people are more likely to follow news aggregation sites, whose creators are like them.  I doubt Wolff and I have the same interests or idea of what a good news story is.

Although some may find the main page confusing or unusual, I think its pictures and block-style format make for an easier and quicker read.

I think Wolff is really doing a disservice by saying he only has about 2 paragraphs for each story, when really each story has a lot of information.

Take for example Obama’s state of the union address, Newser has more than 12 stories on the speech and each story leads you to several other stories.  Each story is very easy to navigate to, and really has me convinced to at least try using Newser for a few weeks.

For me, it is more about habit.  Every morning I turn on the TV and use my news aggregator … NBC.  I half way listen to what NBC thinks are the most relevant stories for me to know about while I am getting ready or working out.  I like that I don’t have to click, search and best of all I don’t have to sit still and the TV just keeps on going.

Publications are going after news/media aggregators and Wolff addresses this in a CNBC interview, and I think he’s right.

The consumer wins and it is going to be difficult for publications like the N.Y. Times to charge for online subscriptions.  It may simply be too late after several years of free service.

Although publications may not be able to charge, Daniel Lyons hopes at least they can find a way to stop aggregators from copying their stories or linking to them.  His idea is to create some sort of software that blocks aggregators.

I think we are all too used to getting information for free online, we pay for the internet and everything online is at “our fingertips.”  Not at our fingertips only if we pay for a subscription.

FLYPmediaonly has about a dozen stories on their website, but the stories are the most detailed I have ever seen. 

Which may be a reason the web site doesn’t seem to update regularly, since each story seems to require so much work. 

I first checked out flypmedia a few weeks ago, and since then the top story has been “A Matter of Life & Death,”  a story that focuses on the U.S.’s policy for healthcare.  The way the story is told is very impactful, especially with the use of images and 3-d like features of the words popping off the screen in the emergency room setting, in the intro.  The narrative of the story is told by doctors, patients and caregivers to name a few.

FLYPmedia is dramatic storytelling at its best.  If page 1 wasn’t enough to engage you, page 2 should do the trick.  The line, “Patients, families, insurance companies, doctors and hospitals, all have a say in how and when terminally ill patients die” was enough to keep me reading and clicking for more.

The story addresses a topic that is very popular right now … healthcare reform.  FLYPmedia takes a rather complex story and breaks it down into something that everybody can understand.

The format gives those interested a way of finding out more about a story, than just the 1-2 minutes that may be devoted to healthcare in a conventional news story.

Visitors to the FLYPmedia website have a lot of options they can click to flip through different pages, press play on the interviews they want to hear, and watch the story in the order they want to, even find out information on how the people were interviewed, in the “publisher’s note.”

FLYPmedia focuses on several diverse topics from new technology for deep-sea divers in “Under the Sea“ to a story on architecture in “Portrait of a Working Marriage.”

FLYPmedia is so detail oriented, I really feel like it answered every question I could possibly have in each story.

I will definitely continue to FLYP!

Several men are attacked in Lincoln Park and still no arrest have been made as of December 27th, 2009.

7 Men were attacked from July 30th through the first week in August.  The Chicago Police Department believe at least 5 of the 7 muggings are related.

The Trends:

Four of the men attacked were in their early to mid-20′s and walking alone.  They said they were confronted on foot from behind by at least four attackers, who were also in their early to mid 20′s. 

The victims were asked for their wallets, then savagely beaten in the head and face, at least two of the victims were hospitalized. 

Locations:

Where the muggings occurred and information on each mugging

The Chicago Police Department is still investigating.

The Missing Trait … The 24 Hour Journalist

Author Vadim Lavrusik outlines 8 Must-Have Traits of Tomorrow’s Journalist, however; there is one more than can be added to the list. 

The internet has placed its highest importance on immediacy, the need to now what is going on Right Now. 

News doesn’t stop and if tomorrow’s journalist want to survive, they will need to have access to the internet 24/7 and the equipment needed to tell their stories using flip cams, iPhones or whatever fits in their pockets. 

The reporter of the future will be expected to cover news they encounter outside of typical work hours, such as a car accident on their way to the grocery store. 

The more interactive and breaking stories they can develop the better and the importance of how they obtain the information may start to seem irrelevant to the viewer or reader.

The structure of the internet is to report what you know as soon as you know it, where traditional journalists hold on to a story until it is a full news package for the 5, 6 or 10 o’clock newscast. 

The accolades for good journalism may shift from great storytelling to simple storytelling-with a longer shelf-life- and perhaps some interactivity for the consumer.

The days of station vehicles and “photogs” for reporters will be a thing of the past.  

You can start to see this shift, as local media outlets look to change their product with new hires.If you look at job descriptions today, news outlets are looking for multi-media journalists who can not only post their stories to the web, but produce a completely different product.