What are the best general news sites for staying informed on breaking stories throughout the day?

If you want to stay on top of breaking news throughout the day, the best general news sites are usually the ones that update quickly, have strong live coverage, and are reliable across a wide range of topics. A good mix is:

Top general news sites

• Reuters — Excellent for fast, straight-to-the-point breaking news. Very reliable and low on opinion.
• Associated Press (AP) — Similar to Reuters: clear, accurate, and widely used by other outlets.
• BBC News — Strong global coverage, good for international breaking news and context.
• CNN — Very fast on major U.S. and world events, with lots of live updates.
• The New York Times — Great reporting and analysis, especially for major U.S. stories.
• The Washington Post — Strong on U.S. politics and government coverage.
• Bloomberg — Best if you also want markets, business, and economic breaking news.
• NPR — Good balanced coverage, especially for U.S. current events and explanatory reporting.

If you want the fastest updates

• Reuters
• AP
• BBC
• CNN
• Bloomberg for business/finance

If you want broader context and analysis

• The New York Times
• The Washington Post
• BBC
• NPR

Good way to use them

For staying informed throughout the day, many people combine:

• Reuters or AP for quick factual updates
• BBC or NPR for context
• One major U.S. outlet like CNN, NYT, or WaPo for deeper coverage

If you want, I can also give you:

1. the best news sites by category (politics, world, tech, business), or
2. a bias/quality comparison of the major outlets.