The Internet is acting as an integrative force for the news industry, allowing news previously distributed in different formats through such mediums as radio, television and print, to appear together, in the same place, at the same time.

This research used as a base, a list of 19 Web sites representing different news providers with geographic diversity, different business models, and different ways of delivering news to the end consumer.

Traditional news providers have followed their instincts and set up news Web sites with models closely representing their current physical modes of operation. For example, most traditional newspaper-based sites publish once a day. Television providers such as CNN come closest to taking advantage of the Internet, updating their sites throughout the day and allowing radio and television clips to be displayed alongside print stories. The pure Internet-based companies such as C|Net, which is not tied to any previous news model, have been created in order to take advantage of the features and possibilities of the Internet.

A major issue for traditional media is the cannibalization of the current customer-base with the advent of online news. There are currently no numbers which might shed light on how much of a problem this is, but if more sites such as the Wall Street Journal start to provide real value for money, and charge for the privilege, then this concern might be translated into a cannibalization of the existing consumer base for the traditional news providers.

Three business models were identified :

• Television and radio model: This model has the expectation that revenues from advertising will lead to profits (but advertising metrics are not yet precise)
• Newspaper and magazine model: In this model users must subscribe to the service (the challenge here is to create value added services for the site)
• Hybrid (Internet) model: This model uses both charging methods, and allows free access to some areas.

Users will only return to a site if they have a compelling reason to do so, or if there is value-added to the site which makes them want to return. Some value-added areas which have been identified include : news-based services, such as searchable archives, links to other news stories or outside sites, audio and video clips; financial portfolio management services; interaction and entertainment possibilities; and opportunities for electronic commerce

Push and pull technologies are two ways of delivering news to an end user. Software such as PointCast 'pushes' news stories to an end user's computer, whereas for most Web sites a user has to go and 'pull' the news off himself. While push technologies have met with limited success, there is no antagonism between the two; both technologies can and will be used to deliver news to the end user.

The main conclusion from the research is that the biggest challenge to news providers is to "make users come back" to a Web site. To make this happen, the winning Internet news providers will produce an array of value added services which traditional news channels cannot deliver. Through developing a regular and loyal users base, the winning news providers will develop an economic model thriving on revenues from subscriptions as well as advertising and some of the value added services provided.