Wired has an excellent article detailing the current "hot debate" between sites and services that offer to slog through the onslaught of news for readers. In one corner, there are sites like Digg (a New Media Sense favorite) where users rank stories as they come in. In the other corner, sites like Newsvine, Google News and Tailrank that "trick computers into being editors" for readers.
With sites like Digg, one can see what others who share the same interests are reading and thinking about. That's a plus, because you can stay afloat of what everyone else is paying attention to. On the other side, sites like Newsvine and Google News frequently bring up issues that may not be at the forefront of people's minds - but should be.