Text only news?

Although this solution does not directly address your query perhaps it will provide you with a workaround solution

You can specify which sites load images with your browser.
I use firefox 3.6.16
Go to <tools> <Options> <content> Uncheck the box for <load images automatically> You can specify which sites are allowed to load images using the <exceptions> tab.
click the exceptions tab and type the exact address of the website you wish to manage then click block or allow.

I am unsure how to achieve this solution in other browsers.

www.thin.npr.org: The text only version of National Public Radio's website offers news, radio program details, a full list of stations, transcripts of parts of various programs, and other information. The pages load very quickly and don't use tables or columns.

www.ipsnews.net/text/: The Inter Press Service offers a non-graphical version of its web site (except for the logo in the upper left corner). It provides international news on a variety of issues. The pages do use fonts and different colors, so they don't load quite as quickly as some of the other text-only websites.

www.theage.com.au/text/: You can read the Australian newspaper "The Age" online at this website. It provides a long list of headlines on the text only version's home page, including Australian and international news, as well as opinion, entertainment, business, and sports.

www.news.bbc.co.uk/low/english/pda/: This website offers BBC headlines and articles on a wide variety of subjects. The home page loads quickly, and most articles are only six or fewer kilobytes to download.

Most news feeds from news sites are text-only, but when you click on a link to read details it takes you to the full blown graphics and html version. The sites listed above do not do that, in fact it will probably make you feel like you've gone back in time by about 10 years of internet technology.