World News Network Compiles World Media

By: Charles Bowen I've always been a little reluctant to tell fellow journalists where to find processed news on the Web. Not only is it a bit presumptuous, considering where you're reading this, but it also leaves me open for those e-mails that begin, "So, you call that news?"

However, from time to time there comes a site that I believe will stand up to even the most rigid definition of what it is we seek in our daily rounds. The World News Network is not only a first-class news portal worthy of our attention, but also it has the global perspective that our readers need in light of current events. It combines the immediacy of the Internet with a depth of details and an objectivity that are lacking in so many other online sites that promise news.

This is not a "one-stop" news site, but a first-stop resource for headlines, stories, and photos from countries around the world. At this time, the prospects of war and terrorism obviously top the daily reports, as they do in your own newspaper.

However, the site has more breadth than that. It provides additional pages on world business, society, entertainment, and science along with clickable links to the latest regional reports from Africa, Asia, the Carribean, Europe, the Mideast, North America, the Pacific, and South America.

Visit the site at http://www.wn.com, where the busy introductory page brings up its Breaking News summaries. The large center column features pictures and paragraph-long summaries. Hyperlinked headlines lead to the original source of the report. At the bottom of the central column are links to top international stories, grouped by continent, again, with each headline linked to the original online source.

Elsewhere on the introductory page are links to the site's assorted departments:

* Down the left column is the WN Directory, with connections to Regional reports, Sports, Business, Society, Language, Entertainment, and Science, as well as a Broadcasting section that connects with broadcast media around the world.

* In the right column are more hyperlinked headlines for featured stories in business, economy, and sports.

* Also here are special reports, such as news from Baghdad, Kashmir, and elsewhere.

Of particular interest to busy journalists is the site's searchability. A data-entry box at the very top of the screen invites you to enter a word or phrase and select a language before searching the archives. Need a more controlled search? Click the adjacent "Advanced Search" link to reach a page that provides Boolean logic operators and sorting options.

Other considerations for using the World News Network in your writing and editing:

1. The site also offers an especially valuable e-mail update service. You may subscribe on the home page.

2. For a different overview of the site's extensive data reserves, click the "Sitemap" link at the top of the main screen. The resulting display offers hyperlinked connections to the specific sections in the various departments, from business and sports to education, environment, science, and so on.

3. If you work in a region with a large multilingual readership, you might want to alert readers that World News Network's reports are available in 20 languages, including French, German, Spanish, Afrikaans, Czech, Slovak, Swahili, and Swedish. Click the "Languages" link at the top of the introductory screen for details.

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