BEIJING, Nov. 15 (Xinhuanet) -- The Internet will change the way news is provided to the world by giving consumers the power to demand and receive any sports score, analysis or breaking story instantly, the head of the world's largest news organization said.

 

The Internet will change the way news is provided to the world by giving consumers the power to demand and receive any sports score, analysis or breaking story instantly. (Photo: CRIENGLISH.com/AP)

    Newspapers, TV broadcasts and even fancy Web pages will have less meaning as people use Web-surfing programs and recording devices to pick and choose items from various providers, said Tom Curley, president and chief executive officer of The Associated Press. In the new media age, people will be able to dictate exactly what news they want, when they want it and on which electronic devices they want to receive it, he said.

    In the world of personalized news, "the content comes to you; you don't have to come to the content," Curley said Friday. "So, get ready for everything to be 'Googled,' 'deep-linked' or "Tivo-ized.'"

    Even though newspapers and TV are losing readers and viewers, there is a vast market of "news enthusiasts" on the Internet that can be reached if old-style media are willing to make some changes, Curley told the Online News Association conference Friday in Hollywood, China Radio International reported Sunday.

    "You have to let the content flow where the users want to go, and attach your brand ¡ª and maybe advertising and e-commerce ¡ª to those free-flowing 'atoms'" of information, Curley said.

    A recent study that found 29 percent of Internet users ¡ª about 43 million people ¡ª go online to get news three or more times per week, Curley said.

    The advent of high-speed, always-on broadband Internet access is leading to changes in how news is covered. Curley said.

    The AP, for example, is expanding the depth of its reporting by adding headlines, statistics, analysis and related stories that can be accessed online.

    Stephanie Busack, 22, a journalism student at Ohio University who attended the conference, said she gets most of her news online.

    "I just go to the Web sites, basically ... it's right there, everything you need to know," she said. "I don't like reading newspapers."

    Curley also touched on Internet users who disseminate news and ideas through Web logs, citing one recent estimate that there are 4 million "bloggers" making 400,000 posts per day.

    "That works out to roughly 16,000 posts an hour, or about as many stories as the AP sends out in an entire day," he said. "It will get even tougher to be heard above the roar of the Internet crowd, and the business bets will have to be for greater stakes."

    Still, Curley predicted current news giants will survive.

    "The bloggers need a baseline of facts and professional analysis on which to base their work," he said. "Imagine Drudge without somebody to link to, or Wonkette without somebody to poke fun at."

     (CRIENGLISH.com)