And by “virtual news” I don’t mean that fake-but-accurate stuff Dan Rather and CBS is famous for, but rather an actual virtual reality society.

NEW YORK In preparing to open a Reuters’ bureau on a bustling island this Wednesday, Adam Pasick has been introducing himself to residents and interviewing entrepreneurs. After finishing such interviews, Pasick often levitates for a moment, then flies over buildings.

Pasick, formerly an earthbound technology reporter for Reuters, the British news agency, is heading up Reuters’ first virtual news bureau inside the online role-playing game, “Second Life.” While many independent journalists and bloggers have published inside such virtual worlds, Reuters is the first established news agency to dispatch a full- time reporter to do so.

Created by Linden Labs of San Francisco, Second Life is a realistic world where avatars - animated representations - for its more than 850,000 players interact. Avatars buy islands on which to build homes or businesses, and sell one another everything from Adobe-Photoshop-designed homes to virtual sneakers. The currency is Linden Dollars, with $1 buying about 280. In September, user-to-user transactions totaled $7.1 million.

What a strange world we’re living in.

I tried to play Second Life, but I just couldn’t get into it.  I guess I prefer actual reality.