Tyson, aliens and K2: diary of a night on the Internet

Set up system. For comparison, it seems worthwhile to comparewhat the Net can offer with the traditional newspaper sources - the"wires". US diplomats killed in Yugoslavia, Pakistani climbersbeing airlifted off K2, racial slurs in the OJ Simpson case.

There are 12,621 "newsgroups" to choose from. These aretext-based discussion areas, classed by the topic, where one"posts" news or views. Each is treated as equally important. But"news" from one group rarely spills over into another.

I decide to check alt.alien.visitors to see if there have beenany. There are 600 "articles", all posted in the past two days. Butthe messages are mostly arguments about how man would react toaliens, and whether they would be friendly.

AP is reporting the results of a tennis match. Reuters has somefootball results. Later tonight, Mike Tyson fights Peter McNeeleyin the first part of his comeback. I decide to see how quickly Ican find the result on the Net.

The biggest problem with trying to find "news" on the newsgroupsis that it is purely a matter of luck. With a fairly arbitrary listof 35 newsgroups, I prepare to see what people in the US aretalking about tonight. There is no newsgroup devoted to boxing.Check uk.rec.climbing to see how the British climbing world hasreacted to the latest news, of the confirmed death of AlisonHargreaves and of two other British climbers elsewhere. However,the most recent messages on the topics are from Friday.

A survey of 850 Internet users shows 70.1 per cent think that OJSimpson is guilty, 18.6 per cent do not, and 10.9 per cent cannotdecide. But almost half think the result will be a hung jury; 22.2per cent expect an acquittal; and just 82 people expect a guiltyverdict.

The news headlines on the Web are the same as half an hour ago.Reuters says a train has hit a bus in Cuba, killing eight. AP saysTerry Norris won by knockout. The search for news is provingdifficult.

On the newsgroup alt.internet.media-coverage (which discusseshow the media treat the Internet - usually, in the contributors'opinion, badly), "James" from NorthWestern University writes: "Didthe media cover (and/or do they now realise) how powerful a toolthe Net can be in terms of resisting and even changing the media'sspin on a story? My own feeling is that . . . once more of themasses are wired, the potential to usurp the mainstream media willturn out to be revolutionary."

I find a discussion about how useful the Internet really is.There is a quote lifted from the American columnist Dave Barry:"Eventually people realised that the Information Superhighway wasessentially CB radio, but with more typing."

Drop in on rec.climbing, the worldwide climbing newsgroup, tosee if there is any more up-to-date news than has been on thewires, where the death of Alison Hargreaves has been effectivelyconfirmed. There is not. But there is an enormous discussionaround the topic "Alison Hargreaves: was she a hero, or simplyirresponsible?" There are 69 responses. It would be impossible tomoderate a TV or radio programme in this way and give everyonetheir say.

Stop by bermuda.general. There only seem to be about threepeople in Bermuda with an Internet connection and none of themknows the result of the referendum.

Kevin Campbell, writing the Internet column in eye - a freepaper based in Toronto - says journalists are used to governmentand business burying critical data in a sea of irrelevant facts."The general public can now share the same wondrous experience byreading newsgroups - especially unmoderated, ill-definednewsgroups," he remarks. I know what he means, having spent sixhours mining for gold and turning up mostly US cable sportsnetwork, has an online page which has just been updated (10.44 pmeast coast time). Tyson allegedly received a death threat on Fridaynight. I hit a goldmine. An electronic service called ClariNetoffers almost instant updates from the wires. The oddly-namedclari.news.trouble (which has stories, mostly from the standardnews wires) offers the stories about Hargreaves that have been onthe wires for some time. But the difference is that you do not haveto wait for tomorrow's paper. You could be sitting up at 4.30am,like me.

AP reports the Tyson fight should be starting about now. AP saysTyson won in the first round. Now will it be on the Net? Thesecurity guard, passing on his rounds, mentions that Tyson won. Butis it on the Net? Yes it is, under "News summary": updated at12.26am on the East Coast - just four minutes ago.

Charles Arthur