A review of Google News

When Jim mentioned Google News in one of our sessions, I was the only one who used it before. I was quite surprised. I was even surprised that Jim seemed not be that amazed about Google News than me.

I think this Google tool is just awesome. It made my life so much easier. I am using it for a couple of months now and since then at least four times a week. I need it for my job as a writer and editor for Debell Publishing, a company that offers current affairs to hotel guests all over the world. What I have to do is to rewrite news on the internet and put it in a layout. This will be sent to the hotels in many different countries at 1am. It has to be up-to-date, so I am only working at night. Obviously I cannot start writing so early, which is why I have to do it under time pressure. That is where Google News comes in.

Google News gives you a general idea what happened around the world. It is offering Top stories, as well as world, technology, entertainment, Health, Sports and Business news. But you can also personalize your Google News page and get other news as well. This tool allows me to work really fast. Even though I have to write only 800 words overall, I have to research into at least ten different stories in current affairs, sports and entertainment.

Google News tells you how many news websites have covered one story. This is a good hint if this story is a top story or not. Moreover you have an overview of different websites that have covered the story plus the matching headlines. This makes it very easy to compare different angles.

I am often using the German Google News page and it taught me a lot about German media and how different media cover stories differently.