The Web and the News

Newspapers are slowly adjusting to the Internet, developing websites tailored to the medium rather than duplicating their print editions online (read this post and the references therein for my opinion on the second approach). It should come as no surprise then that TV news programs are following the trend too. Or, should I say, one TV program, as we owe this to the one anchor who takes news more seriously than his hairdo, the one and only Charles Gibson at ABC. According to the New York Times in an article dated October 12, 2007, ABC has taken to producing an afternoon webcast, sometimes anchored by Gibson himself, and aimed at the younger audience who gets its news online. Rather than putting the TV newscast online as do its competitors, ABC has created a web-only product, which allows for longer features. Of course in-depth analysis remains the turf of magazines, and video (both on TV and the web) will always have a bias for stories with a strong visual element, but it is refreshing to see one of the "big three" taking the web seriously.