diff --git a/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py b/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py
index dd32d3749f..6215132e4b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py
+++ b/src/calibre/web/feeds/news.py
@@ -839,7 +839,13 @@ class BasicNewsRecipe(Recipe):
         fetcher.image_url_processor = self.image_url_processor
         res, path, failures = fetcher.start_fetch(url), fetcher.downloaded_paths, fetcher.failed_links
         if not res or not os.path.exists(res):
-            raise Exception(_('Could not fetch article. Run with -vv to see the reason'))
+            msg = _('Could not fetch article.') + ' '
+            if self.debug:
+                msg += _('The debug traceback is available earlier in this log')
+            else:
+                msg += _('Run with -vv to see the reason')
+            raise Exception(msg)
+
         return res, path, failures
 
     def fetch_article(self, url, dir, f, a, num_of_feeds):
@@ -901,7 +907,7 @@ class BasicNewsRecipe(Recipe):
         if self.test:
             feeds = feeds[:2]
         self.has_single_feed = len(feeds) == 1
-        
+
         index = os.path.join(self.output_dir, 'index.html')
 
         html = self.feeds2index(feeds)