I'd say the situation now is about the same as it was then. Only the context has changed. Communicator had a mail client and a news client. I used them both

I'd say the situation now is about the same as it was then. Only the context has changed. Communicator had a mail client and a news client. I used them both over dial-up, back in the day. If enough people still wanted newsreaders, you can bet Mozilla would write one.