Newsvine

I've been looking for a truly good news site for some time. Google News is good if you know what you're looking for. I've never really liked CNN's or Fox News' sites, but I can't quite figure out why I don't like them.

I heard about Newsvine a while back; I can't remember where. It sounded interesting, so I signed up for their beta. I got an invitation from them overnight Thursday night. I spent a little while yesterday evening and today on the site, and I'm quite impressed so far.

It's kinda like slashdot, and a bit more like Digg. There's a built-in AP news feed with good-size, often gorgeous and poignant pictures. There's also the ability for readers to "seed" -- post links to and summarize -- stories. Users can also post original articles. But what's coolest about it? Readers can "vote" for and comment on stories.

The breadth and depth of coverage is more than any other collaborative news site I've seen. Slashdot is technology oriented, and Digg is focused purely on user-submitted stories, so it can be rather schizophrenic. But Newsvine builds on a quality AP feed with user rankings and user-submitted content. It seems to have content on all the major news areas.

It's in a closed beta right now. Let me know if you'd like in; I have something like 20 invites to distribute.

Newsvine certainly looks promising. It'll be interesting to watch it continue to develop.