Issue Date: January 13, 2002
E-mail news flash!
If something terrible happened in the world tomorrow, how would you find out? If you spend time tethered to a computer, it might be by e-mail -- through one of several Internet news sites that let you sign up for free news bulletins.
What sort of event warrants an e-mailed interruption? News junkies won't mind getting a lot of alerts, because they don't want to miss anything. Others want an e-mail only if the news is so important that they should drop everything and head to the TV. Before you choose a service, take a close look at each one as well as your own appetite for news.
CNN's e-mail alerts (CNN.com/email) are the most popular, but they have a major flaw: The subject headings are blank, so each news flash is potentially cataclysmic until you open it. CNN sends about five alerts a week, and your heart may skip a beat each time.
Yahoo's breaking-news service (alerts.yahoo.com) e-mails you even more frequently than CNN.
MSNBC (msnbc.com/tools/newstools), which alerts you somewhat less often, has some nifty customizable tools for true newshounds. One, "News Alert," is a tiny piece of software that flashes a button on your computer's task bar when news has broken. (It doesn't work on a Macintosh, sadly.) More recently, the site introduced "MSNBC Now," which lets you e-mail MSNBC whenever you crave news on a particular subject. The site instantly replies with links to relevant stories. It's a particularly good service for people who have BlackBerries and other e-mail pagers that may lack Web access.
Those who don't want to be interrupted -- or frightened -- by frequent alerts may prefer "The New York Times" (nytimes.com; click on "Sign Up for Newsletters") or ABC News (abcnews .com; click on "News Alerts").
-- By Ron Lieber
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