News in the metaverse is yet another way that we have evolved our means of communicating news. Differing only slightly in content and importance from the real world news that we are used to, metaverse news, though not a necessity, is a valuable expansion tool which also contains means of broader sourcing.
Although going about communicating "in world" news is quite different than reading a short story in your daily paper, the value of stories and the journalistic qualities which define them are the same. In the SLCN forum, a participant, Cybergrrl Oh expressed her thoughts that both news mediums are credible, and that while Second Life news may not be earth shattering, it is still interesting. Another participant, 57 Miles, also felt that there was little or no difference between the two news communications. His believes that "if it feels like news, it is news."
I think that although metaverse news may not supersede real world newspaper, television, or online news, it does provide opportunity for expanded sourcing. The SLCN forum discussed the benefit of being able to do audio and visual interviews with an avatar of someone who may be located closer to an event in real life than a reporter needs to be, offering a credible source from a distance than may be unavoidable by the journalist.
While "in world" news is not necessary, I think it is something that puts a more interesting spin on journalism.