Google news is a world class news aggregator website. It provides on the left bar the major categories and additional on top of the screen a shiny looking search field. If we enter a certain keyword into the box, we get all the headlines from the worldwide journals without have to visit each website separate. Additionally, Google news provides a RSS feed which makes it easier to use a textual browser for the information. From a technical point of view the website is great and can be recommended.
If Google news is so great, we do we need a website like Wikinews anymore? The amount of news at Wikinews is much smaller and the procudure to put a headline to the site is complicated. But wikinews has a major advantage over Google news. The user can edit the website. Google news is a read only website. It aggregates the sources to a stream but it doesn't provide the ability to comment or upvote a headline. Additionally, the amount of sources for Google news is fixed, while in Wikinews it is possible to add URLs from smaller blogs.
I think, Google news is a good example how the final news aggregator should look like. If this project is realized with a mediawiki installation this would be the world best social network. In contrast to a common misconception a social network is not equal to meet friends, but a place for posting URLs. Google news is also a social network, because it aggregates news sources. But it is not open for new users. It is not possible to login into the backend of the website and to discuss with the admins about how to curate a playlist the right way. For example, my impression is, that everything which has to do with Robotics and Artificial Intelligence is prioritized to low at Google news. It is a typical anti-tech website which prevents technological advancement.
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