NBC-TV: MSNBC:

• NBC and Microsoft are riding their MSNBC cooperative, and together they have a leader on television and on the Web.
• This is a fine site for getting the latest up-to-date breaking news, and its importance seems to grow weekly.
• More committed to presenting analysis and commentary on the news than any of the other broadcast sites on the Web.

PBS (Public Broadcasting System): ****An outstanding site.

• Forgive my bias, but everyone needs to look in on PBS. With RealAudio one can download transcripts of some of the best programs on public television (the audio transcripts). And don't neglect to check National Public Radio.
• Anyone who wants to follow public radio and television online should check out Current, a magazine that covers PBS.
• PBS also sponsors "Media Matters," which lets one test one's journalistic ethics.

Minnesota Public Radio:

• The erstwhile comic of Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor, is in an ongoing presence at this leading PBS operation.
• MPR is much more than "Prairie Home Companion," however; check it out.

New Hampshire Public Radio:

• The station in the "Live Free or Die" state has become a leader in "public journalism by bringing local politics to the center of open discussion. Each week a local state Republican and a local state Democrat are brought together for discussion.
• A special feature on New Hampshire taxes (those in neighboring Massachusetts call this an oxymoron!) is designed to engage the public with an issue they say they want discussed.

Canadian Broadcasting (CBC-radio):

• Having spent several years in northern Vermont -- where one receives more Canadian radio stations than U.S. stations (about 60 percent of them in French, unfortunately for the linguistically challenged) -- I've grown to be a big fan of Canadian radio. Now you can get CBC-radio anywhere in the world. With RealAudio, a listener can tap into ongoing broadcasts from anywhere.

Voice of America (radio):

• The extensive radio broadcasting network of the U.S. government.
• Don't write VOA off too quickly as a propaganda arm. It is staffed with a host of former network broadcast journalists who present the news in a fair and objective fashion.
• Sanford Ungar, former dean of American University's School of Journalism and now president of Goucher College near Baltimore, is a former director of VOA.

BBC:

• Probably the best known broadcast company in the world. International and national radio and television information from Great Britain.

CBS-TV: Up-to-the-minute:

• Not quite as adventurous as MSNBC, and still behind ABC in commitment to the Web.

ABC-NEWS:

• ABC.COM has become a leader among the major networks in devoting attention to online news.
• To get the best entree to this site, go to its index.

C-Span:

• Perhaps not everyone will agree with me, but C-Span is better on the Internet than it is on TV -- much better.

Fox News:

• Fox has become a competitor with the major networks, especially in the area of sports coverage. Fox has a broad view of the news and tends toward infotainment.
• Fox News offers a digest of the news and a chance to search both the AP and Reuters wires.

Channel 4000 (WCCO, Minneapolis-St. Paul):

• With the exception of CNN Interactive, Channel 4000 may be the most successful news operation on the WWW, demonstrating what can be done locally with some energy put into cyberspace.

TVNewz.com:

• Less of a broadcast outlet than an e-zine about TV broadcasting. Nevertheless, one can learn much about the news about TV news from this site.

Cable News Network (CNN):

• CNN seems to have made the heaviest commitment to the Web of all the broadcast media; in fact, CNN online has repeatedly been voted one of the best news content sites on the Web.
• In a way, CNN has nothing to lose with a highly literate Web site; it makes its money via TV, which as many have observed is a license to make a profit. Thus, while newspapers wring their hands over how to make money by delivering their content electronically on the Web, CNN doesn't worry about it and pumps out the free information.
• It's now teamed up with Sports Illustrated to provide CNNSI, probably the best up-to-the-minute sports medium in the world.
• It also operates CNNfn, the financial network that is loaded with market news from around the globe thanks to the network's Asian and European Bridge News Services.

Listen to the News:   Site apparently died because of lack of finances.  Last checked 12/31/01

• Touts itself as the most complete source of RealAudio/Video world news.
• It may just be that. An amazing array of news resources, most of them broadcast sites.
• A great site for audio buffs, but unless one runs a high-speed computer on a high-speed connection one is very likely to be frustrated by the loading time of several of these good sites.

The Weather Channel:

Fans of the TV weather station, which has made weather a niche news item 7/24, will find the Web site even more informative.

Like most highly graphic sites, this one is sometimes slow loading.

ESPN Sports:

• ESPN has become one of the most comprehensive sports sites on the Web, a challenger of giant CNNSI. Searchers can track almost any sport in the United States here, even some of the small-time sports. One also has to pay to get advanced access such as detailed statistics on a particular game.
• There's no doubt, however, that ESPN is one of the fastest sites at reporting games and scores. For important games, updates come about every minute and a sports buff setting the automatically timed "reload" or "refresh" option can follow games in progress. Be warned: Slow connections can be frustrating at this site.