News Aggregator

news aggregator, online platform or software device that collects news stories and other information as that information is published and organizes the information in a specific manner. This is accomplished in several ways. Some aggregators are curated by people to whom certain types of information is of particular import and others use HTML (hypertext mark-up language) coding on the websites of news-gathering organizations to create RSS (really simple syndication) feeds and other public notifications of instant updates to news content regarding a specific subject.

News aggregation is based on the concept of content syndication, where content created by one or more news-gathering organizations is distributed through a different organization. Historically, syndication involved republication of news content by newspapers in different locations. These newspapers paid the initial publishing source (often a metropolitan daily) for the limited right to reprint the stories. The nature of syndication has changed as technological advances allow far more information to travel much greater distances. Online journalism allows for more and different types of syndication, particularly the syndication of headlines and breaking news scoops. Most news aggregators are web based: they deliver RSS feeds and other content using web browsers. Major search engines provide their own news-aggregating platforms, many of which send news feeds directly to the user as a daily e-mail digest. However, other aggregators use stand-alone software that connects to the internet to deliver RSS feeds and other content.