Category: bbc.co.uk; News

Date: 01.10.2004
Printable version

bbc.co.uk/news has announced that it will begin rolling out links to other news providers alongside its own stories.

The move is designed to offer access to even more detailed information and the chance to compare sources or check out a different perspective on the same story, with a longer-term view of improving media literacy.

The BBC Newstracker system uses web search technology to identify content from other news websites that relates to a particular BBC story.

The service provides bbc.co.uk/news with around 4,000 feeds, through Moreover Technologies, from English language news websites from all over the world.

The system then takes the stories and compares their text with the text of the bbc.co.uk/news report.

Where it finds a match, it can provide a link directly from the BBC website to the external site.

As this comparison is done regularly, the BBC stories contain links to the latest and most relevant articles appearing on other sites.

The service is being deployed on an increasing number of stories over the next few weeks and will become a regular feature on the site.

Richard Deverell, BBC Head of News Interactive, says: "BBC Newstracker addresses a clear user need: we know that audiences, particularly younger audiences, want and seek out a wider range of news sources.

"The new links will provide users with an opportunity to read our content in the context of what other news providers are saying.

"We hope this emphasis on choice will increase media literacy amongst our users, improving the educational value of our service, as well as affirming bbc.co.uk's reputation as a trusted guide to the web."