There's so much information available online and from so many sources these days. The obvious benefit is that you can now sit in a tea shop in northern Japan and still get breaking news from the New York Times without any delay. On the other hand, with so many options for news content, how can you possibly visit every site you want to find the information you need...every single day?

I fell in love with RSS (really simple syndication) years ago because it allows me to customize the news. I simply look for the XML or RSS icons on a website, click, and add that feed to my aggregator.

An aggregator collects all of those RSS files, or "feeds" into one place and allows me to read them whenever I'm ready. For example, in my case, I want to follow news about the media industry, U.S. politics, Baltimore, Chicago, technology and Asia. I also like to keep updated on certain movie stars (Clive Owen) and musicians (George Michael). And there are a handful of blogs that I like to read daily. Using RSS, I can create a virtual newspaper that delivers me only the content that I want.

There are many RSS aggregator options: Google Reader, Bloglines, MyYahoo...the list goes on.

Lately, there has been a lot of discussion about the virtues of Web-based readers vs. those strictly for the desktop. One key problem I've had with Web-based readers, such as Bloglines, is that you have to be online to see your feeds. And because I'm constantly en route to client meetings or traveling to visit friends, I can't easily do my reading while commuting via plane/ train/ car. Another key issue is that Web readers aren't very customizable - it's hard to clip and read stories later on.

One desktop application I really like is NetNewsWire, which is Mac application developed by Newsgator. (On a PC, you can try FeedDemon, and for mobile phones you can try NewsGator Go!) If I want to click and get to an outside website, I can do that (as long as I'm online) - and NetNewsWire will also save a copy of the page I'm visiting for easy access later on.

Aggregation is the next frontier in journalism. I believe that journalists will increasingly play the role of meta-editor, as more and more people generate content online. Some publishers see RSS as a threat - and that's a reasonable thought. Now that I read most of my news via RSS, I'm not clicking on the New York Times Web site throughout the day. I'm also not seeing most of the advertisements that help fund Web sites.

So far, most news organizations haven't allowed users to personalize their experience. But I'm not alone. People want to contribute, to customize and to control what they're viewing online.