What benefits can be gained from online news bulletins, when compared with more traditional sources such as TV and radio news

Asks marmalade

A. There are many advantages to getting your daily news fix online - the main one is timing. If you want to find out the latest on the crisis in Afghanistan for example you can get it immediately from many online news services whereas if you use traditional means you have to wait for the next news programme to be shown or aired.

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Even then you will only be given bite-size accounts of what is going on, if you are a real news junkie you'll crave more in-depth analysis and comment, which you can get online. Add to this the fact that you can set your own news agenda - select the news stories you want to follow rather than those you are fed by the main broadcasters - and you're on to a winner. Online news is also updated as and when it happens so that you can always be on the ball.

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Q. Which online news services should I check out

A. Some of the best include the following:

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BBC News Online

The BBC's reputation for having an excellent online presence is not let down by its news coverage - it is second to none as it offers news as it breaks, plus analysis and background information. The site is really easy to navigate and has great multimedia feeds onto the site too - from the World Service, BBC News 24, BBC Radio and BBC Television News.

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ITN News

The ITN site has a great virtual newsroom - where most of its news stories break, plus lots of background information and analysis, The site has recently been revamped and is now a lot faster and slicker than it was before. It also incorporates feeds from Channel 4 and ITN News, plus its regional outlets.

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Sky News

This is another good site that mirrors its television coverage, with lots of background on news stories, although not much analysis. It also has clear and fast video clips, and a great archive of news stories. Very strong on sports coverage.

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CNN Europe

This site has a fantastic "In Depth" section that provides analysis and background information on all the stories covered on the site. It is easy to navigate and the homepage is amazingly busy with links and video clips scattered all over it - it can in fact be a little overwhelming at first - as it covers so much you don't know where to start.

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Ananova

This is a great site for snippets of news as it breaks as all of its stories are short and snappy and therefore easy to follow - but it has less analysis than other sites which is the area online news services can excel above TV and radio coverage - which is a shame as it's a great and easy site to use, and very fast to download its pages and links.

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Reuters

This is a massive site - and is definitely the place to go first if you're after breaking news. Reuters is so used to breaking news exclusives that it has a time banner beside new stories letting you know when it was first posted and then when it was updated - and many stories can change or be enhanced within a couple of hours, such is the attention to detail here.

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Q. What should I do if my news site of choice is too busy to allow me to log on Are there other places I can go

A. It is rare that you'll be unable to access a site because of the huge amount of traffic trying to access it at the same time - but in times of great crisis such as the terrorist attacks of September 11th some sites are just too busy to cope with the number of hits it is receiving at once. If this happens to you, try again after ten minutes and you will often be able to access the site.

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Alternatively you can check out a competitors site, access the bulletins from your ISP (AOL, Virgin, Yahoo, Freeserve etc. all provide up to date news coverage on their home pages, with relevant links) as you log onto the Internet, or contact a newspaper site as their news coverage is updated every hour (usually). Some of the best newspaper sites include The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Times, the Telegraph and The Independent - all of these sites feature in-depth coverage and lots of links to background information and archive features. The Guardian and the Telegraph offer the most comprehensive coverage, with the fastest and easiest to navigate sites.

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If you have any other Internet related questions, please click here

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By Karen Anderson