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Since 1985, News International has maintained an in‐house database which provides access to several daily and Sunday newspaper titles and has developed into a powerful research tool for librarians and journalists. A plan to provide a web‐based front end to the Editorial Database led to the development of an Editorial Services Intranet which also makes available content produced by Reference Library staff. The material ranges from the databases such as the library’s book catalogue and a record of all aviation disasters to lists of all IRA attacks in mainland Britain and ministerial resignations.

The established areas of online activity: finance, science, and now law, are characterised by the high value which they attach to information and their ability to pay for it. Outwardly this would seem to be true for the media and we would be rather surprised at their omission from this list. Indeed, one might expect that, given their close and heavy commitment to information research, information processing and packaging, and dissemination, they would make ready converts to online. Yet despite the considerable efforts expended by database vendors, who long ago targeted this potentially huge and lucrative market, they have gained little more than a foothold. Market penetration is weak, very patchy, with the case for online still, in many instances, unproven. This paper reports on initial research into online use in the media, and provides early findings from which general lessons may be learnt about the use, value, and impact of online information retrieval.

In spite of ostensibly favourable conditions, end‐user searching of online text information retrieval systems among City firms is relatively uncommon. Online searching is flourishing but is very much the province of librarians. Textline is the exception, being used fairly extensively by intermediaries and end‐users alike. Textline's success is attributed to shrewd marketing, user‐friendly software, a wide and relevant coverage policy, its abstracts and early entry into the market. Job perceptions, job pressures, human nature and attitudes towards information technology appear to be inhibiting widespread end‐user searching. Intermediaries, who are actively encouraging end‐use, or who are trying to get involved in the planning of integrated information systems, still seem to be in the minority.

Virtually all UK and US newspapers and the vast majority of regional and even local titles are now represented on the web. Indeed, the Yahoo news and media directory lists no less than 114 UK newspapers online (as of November 1998). Broadcasters from the BBC and Sky downwards, and all the famous news agencies (Press Association, Reuters etc.) also boast comprehensive Internet services. With such an array of sources available, the future of mass access to the Internet, possibly via TV terminals, suggests that more and more people may soon opt for this medium to receive the bulk of their news information. This paper gives an overview of the characteristics of the medium illustrated with examples of how these are being used to both facilitate and enhance the content and dissemination of the news product. These characteristics include hyperlinking to external information sources, providing archive access to past reports, reader interactivity and other features not possible to incorporate into more passive media such as the hardcopy newspaper. From a survey of UK and US news providers it is clear that American newspapers are exploiting the advantages of web information dissemination to a far greater extent than their British counterparts, with the notable exception of The Electronic Telegraph. UK broadcasters, however, generally appear to have adapted better to the new medium, with the BBC rivaling CNN in its depth and extent of news coverage, use of links and other elements.

There is now no shortage of complex and expensive database software for business use and information retrieval but not all applications need the full sophistication of a relational programmable package costing close to £1,000. Indeed overkill can be a mistake because big systems do not always do simple tasks well. It is, therefore, worth looking to see what the other end of the spectrum has to offer. The “Key” data handling package is just such a system, intended for use in education and designed to be simple enough for pupils themselves to use. At a cost of only £7.95 (BBC B computer) or £9.95 (Research Machines Nimbus computer) including a 72‐page spiral‐bound handbook, one would not expect much, but in fact the system can record information of up to 255 characters length in a number of varied types of field, store simple drawings associated with the records, and plot positions on a map. Searching is possible for beginnings, endings and part words and is surprisingly fast.