Diversity is out there but can you find it?

There are all sorts of contentious issues when it comes to online reporting, but there is also huge potential to develop the Internet as something which offers a far greater diversity of opinion - and of approaches to news - than is currently available.

Although there are many publications, radio stations and television stations, the most popular of them tend to feed off one another for their news coverage. Nowadays, lots of online publications subscribe to the same practice. But using the Internet it is possible to meet a potentially wide audience with different news, and a different interpretation of the news.

Many traditional news services - such as The Irish Times, RTE, Reuters and other wire services - have their own sites. They use new technology to make their product more "user friendly".

Some of them, such as Reuters, charge a fee to access some services. On the other hand, MSNBC - which links software giant Microsoft with one of the US TV networks - has an online news service which relates to its cable-TV news station; it provides a wide range of facilities free of charge because it can make its users available to TV and Internet advertisers. These facilities include a news alert tool - "whenever important news happens, news alert lets you know." The service is designed so that users can access information in accordance with their own interests. Of course, you can choose what to read in a newspaper or listen to on the radio and television as well, but the choice is greater online, because there aren't the same space and time constraints.

According to Andrew L. Shapiro, who has written a book, The Control Revolution, on the politics of the new media, the Internet offers the potential to generate more material by "individuals, non-profits and small companies" as well as "far ranging coverage of news and public affairs" and "a focus on the diverse interests of communities". There are "unencumbered opportunities for common folks to say their piece", Shapiro wrote in an article for the Nation magazine earlier this year.

The problem of expense associated with mainstream media no longer applies, so anyone can create a site and spread the word. People all over the place are using the Internet, creating webzines and e-mail newsletters. "Artists are showing their work in virtual galleries," Shapiro writes. "Musicians are uploading their compositions for others to hear . . . . Activists, too, have turned to the Net to spread their views, garner support and co-ordinate action."

At the moment the Internet remains quite an exclusive medium, mainly accessed by the wealthy. However, as computer prices fall and the Internet is integrated with digital television, this is likely to change dramatically. But already not all information on the World Wide Web is equally accessible. Microsoft, for example, can steer users where the company wants them to go. "Microsoft's Windows 98 has features that lead users directly to its own content and commerce," Shapiro writes. "And it's only one of the ways Microsoft plans to control content on the Net, according to industry insiders."

He points out that services such as Similarly CNN and MSNBC underline the Net's commercial priorities with links on their sites from news stories to relevant e-commerce sites - then they collect a commission on any sales that come via them. The Internet offers huge scope for freedom of expression, but it isn't very effective if people don't know how to access the information.