Poynter column on the news as a part of a process rather than as a goal in and of itself;
"News doesn't always have to be a finished story. In some cases, a launching point might be even more intriguing and engaging."

Isn't that the "holy grail" or great promise of online journalism? Giving the reader everything they need in order to go as deep or far as they need, want and have the time for?
By tying in information both from internal and external sources, you can provide a much bigger picture - just like Silobreaker - thereby broadening the options for the reades.
Previous articles about the mayor and his campaing finance? Check. Previous tv-segments from the debate last fall? Check. Google or Archive versions of his blog posts? Check.
No, it doesn't make sense for a lot of stories - but the more automated the core is, the easier it becomes to add some insight quickly by highlighting one of five possible stories - or by removing one that is out of date. When there is between a hundred and three hundred articles on the taliban in silobreaker, it is a pure necessity to be able to filter further, zoom in on a timespan (use the chart) And the same policy should be core for any news organization.

Bring the reader everything they might need or want - and then make it easy for them to do their filtering.

"But then, "most people" don't care about any particular story you can find in a mainstream news venue. The "general audience" is a myth. When you get down to the story level, news has always been about niches. Every piece of news has its own community of relevance -- and every news topic offers myriad potential stories." - check for further comments