The media buzz here in DC is all about the new website TBD and how it may (or may not) succeed as a customizable, all-you can-eat type of local news site. Launched by the same publisher who created the hugely successful Politico, the new news site will set itself apart by including news links with other local blogs and outlets.  Risky, or extremely smart?

My bet is on the latter.  I personally don’t have time to go searching for all the blogs that have been created to share news about my neighborhood here in Arlington, Virginia. So I find setting up an account on TBD, even if it means I have to share a little personal information, highly valuable.  It means that I can go one place to read the news I want.  

Along those lines, Mashable offers this insightful take on the new culture of news consumption and how social networks are shattering the traditional media channels.  For example, 75% of news consumed online is now done so through social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.  Amazing, although not surprising.  People trust their friends and like-minded individuals to share the kinds of news that interests them.

News outlets now must strategize ways to “find” consumers, rather than relying on the belief that those audiences will find them:

In the next five years, it very well could be that you’ll be more likely to have news find you through the social graph than consuming news through traditional means of TV, radio and even news websites. Consumption itself is almost no longer the sole focal point, but instead the focus is also on the way readers can share, repackage, and customize new to fit into their personalized social news stream.

What do you think? How do you prefer to receive your news?