Now more than ever, people need good news coverage about science. Most media organizations are cutting back on budgets for journalists, including science journalists, who are becoming less and less able to spend time digging into stories, or even searching for them in the first place. Lots of money is being spent on new platforms for disseminating journalism, as the use of news feeds grows and as we head towards electronic replacements for newspapers. But quality, diversity and depth are increasingly in short supply.

This week, Nature and its sister journals strike a blow against this trend. Simultaneous with the publication of this week's issue of Nature, we are pleased to launch our new online news service, news@nature.com. It delivers free daily stories — a revamped version of Nature Science Update, which it replaces. It also provides all the news and other journalistic content provided by Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology, BioEntrepreneur and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery, as well as career news from Naturejobs.

Subscribers to any of the participating journals get all of this online content at no extra charge and before it is printed. Others can subscribe to the news service directly, receiving the free daily service and the rest as premium content. But for an introductory season over the next two months, the entire service is free of charge for all. It can be found at http://www.nature.com/news.

Quality? We intend it to be of the highest, in keeping with the values of the Nature name. Diversity? Our site will bring you hard-hitting daily coverage of all the big developments in research, as well as the science and technology issues that increasingly affect our lives. But there's room too for the scientific fun that lies buried in specialist journals and meetings, and for a more personal view from our team in the form of blogs and columns. And depth? All the journals provide in-depth coverage of their territories issue after issue.

The team that brings you all this is unmatched in its geographical coverage and award-winning talent. We are confident that your supply of the news of science will be greatly enriched by their efforts.