News.com Extra launched earlier today. The public explanation spells out what we’re doing. I would add only that the end goal is to save readers’ time. News.com reporters and editors do their damndest to get you the best story as fast as possible on every tech story that matters. But no one is as big as everyone, so News.com has always pointed out to other stories of interest. Extra amplifies that, applying the concept to individual stories, in addition to “unattached” stories, as you find in More news around the Web. Also, Extra includes some general news (yes, aggregated via RSS) and a group blog for the editorial staff called Missing Links. Maybe it’s too much. Maybe it’s not enough.
But if it saves the reader time, we’re doing something right. Send feedback; I’m not the only one eager to read it.
1 response so far ↓
1 Saturday night links, June 2, 2007 | clock — watching time, the only true currency // Jun 2, 2007 at 9:39 pm
[...] Scott Karp shares that “CNN and Wall Street Journal Embrace Aggregation Of Third-Party Content” and I say… so? It’s not playing offense, it’s playing defense. I have experience leading these efforts at CNET in the past: July, 2004 or February, 2005. They were well-intentioned efforts, but never broke through for lack of commitment. Media organizations which operate on the (admirable) principle that their own content (thinking/reporting/writing/opinion) is worth other people’s time and money are not committed (business-wise or personally) to other people’s content. Yes, technology has made complementing your own content with other sources even easier (read: cheaper) in the last year or two. But it’s not a sea-change; it’s a few more fingers in the dike. [...]