Having become tired of newspapers of renown, I now check the news by searching the World Wide Web with the simplest of search words: “news.” A number of news services pop up on the first page. The most prominent at the moment are Google News, British Broadcasting Corporation News, Yahoo News, and Cable News Network News, in that order. They do not seem to differ all that much, either. Curious about what they offer, I just checked the way these news services classify the news. And here are the results:

Google: Top stories, world, US, business, technology, entertainment, sports, science, and health

BBC: News, world, UK, business, technology, science, entertainment and arts, and health

Yahoo: News, US, world, politics, technology, science, and health

CNN: World, sport, technology, entertainment, style, travel, and money

Interestingly, technology comes close to the top of all classifications. And so does business, finance, or money. Although health is typically at the very end, it is conspicuous by its presence in most news services. Perhaps the biggest surprise is the important place that science has gotten in most classifications. Interestingly, only the BBC News has a place for the arts in their classification, albeit in close association with entertainment. Anyway, the above classifications tell a great deal about the beginning of the Twenty-First Century. To wit, the news are meant for individuals only. To each according to his or her needs.

Addendum (April 11, 2017)

As of late, I go mainly for Google News and BBC News, where I spend no more than a minute at a time, but I occasionally search for other services, as well. In particular, I go for Reuters News, Al Jazeera News, and Fox News. One more time, though, they do not seem to differ very much. At first glance, all the differences are superficial at best. Which is why I just checked the classification of news by these three services. To be sure, the results are hardly surprising:

Reuters: US, world, technology, entertainment, politics, and more

Al Jazeera: News, Middle East, documentaries, shows, investigations, opinion, and more

Fox: Video, politics, US, opinion, business, entertainment, technology, science, health, travel, lifestyle, world, and on air

Both Reuters and Al Jazeera offer quite a bit under “more,” but there are few surprises still. Of all the services, Google News appears to make the greatest effort to figure out my own needs, but this ultimately leads to minor changes only. For instance, they come up with all key news items concerning Brexit, but others are not far behind in this regard. Predictably, all the services I have checked so far do their utmost to satisfy the needs of the largest number of customers, which ends up being pretty disappointing. Which is why I cannot but wonder how much longer will I be experimenting with the World Wide Web. The news are for the birds, anyway.