I wasn't even noticed, but my ISP put on its web site it was offering no more news server because "it was doomed" and a thing of the past. Effective September 9 th 2008. So no more malwares, pornography, child pornography and every bad thing you can think of. I think the cons were so many the pros are tiny with Newsgroups. The Mormons are going to be happy. There is still the possibility to subscribe to a paying fee usenet but who is going to use that. Newsgroups were popular in the nineties because they were FREE, I think.
I guess only the microsoft USENET is still alive