I've been thinking that news is essentially a human filter on reality, as such, WOT and discretion are the primary tools. I would view news as 'new attestations that are made today' in that I want to know what my WOT have registered as something they believe to be factual - on a fact by fact basis. Then, reputation (individualized reputation) updates in real time based on how well the source can be trusted. Real trust!

There are still people who read articles, and journalism isn't dead, but I see a future that involves tools that assemble facts based on our networks and trust models, with bias checks, alternate viewpoints, and exploration of the networks we disagree with. And a strong culture of a) read a freaking physical newspaper in a tree sometime! b) don't live in an echo chamber!