Regarding newspapers, search on "feedbooks" and RSS subscription tools.
Battery life is nowhere near as good as the Kindle, I suspect. (I don't have a Kindle, but I suppose it's like the Sony, which apparently runs for weeks on a single charge.) It's the Wacom screen, mostly. Even when it's not in use, apparently it draws power. Or something. None of us can figure out quite why the power management on the iLiad is so bad (and I say that as someone who's otherwise completely satisfied with the beast).
Also, the iLiad has a 45 second start-up time, and no sleep mode. But it doesn't drain the batteries at all when it's switched off. I don't know about the Kindle. I think the Sony lasts about two weeks whether you're reading or not, because of the suspend mode. Is that right?