Journalists Start to Think in Links

The journalism mantra of "get it first" will play in its most important role with the changing world of link journalism. Traditional news sites will now link to each others' web pages putting the competitions' stories front and center.


What is link journalism?

Visit any blog on the internet, and you'll be sure to notice a series of words with lines under them that when clicked on, will take you to a new site with relevant content - thus, the concept behind linking.

Link journalism describes the act of linking to other content, often from a different source, to provide readers with the best coverage possible - even if that means directing browsers away from your site and to others. By linking to other pages, articles, video clips, sound bites, and/or interviews, journalists are able to provide their readers with the best content as possible without all the work. Link journalism has become an invaluable tool to internet journalism that newspaper web sites are quickly picking up on.



Newspapers recognize benefits to link journalism


In attempts to attract more readers to their perspective publications and web sites, newspapers, and online news outlets holistically, are linking to stories run by competitors.

The Washington Post has already introduced a political browser that links its news consumers to competing news outlets Web sites, and NBC plans to launch a site that will link to "it's local TV stations with links to local newspapers, radio stations, online videos, and other sources,"

Popular blogger Jeff Jarvis from Buzzmachine.com offers the following on link journalism:

"Think of it as being inside a beat reporter’s head, while also sitting at a table with all the experts who inform that reporter, as everyone there can hear and answer questions asked from the rest of the room — and in front of them all are links to more and ever-better information and understanding. This is the way to cover stories and life."

And although link journalism may be new to traditional news sites, it is old habit for news search engines such as Google News and Yahoo News who have been sending their news consumers to other sources for years.

“It’s all about sending people away, and it does such a good job of it that people keep coming back for more,” Scott Karp, who is chief of the Web-based newswire Publish2 and coined the term link journalism told the New York Times.


Non-traditional news site serve as link model

Although non-traditional news site like the Huffington Post and Drudge Report are often criticized and critiqued for their news coverage, these news blogs can be used as a model for newspapers just starting to link to other sites.


The entire liveliness and survival of these news outlets depends on link journalism, and being able to provide the best array of articles from varied sources.

Non-traditional news sites have become so popular for their link journalism techniques that they are even being credited for original reporting where it might not be deserved, according to worknplay.net.

"Drudge has gotten so powerful that he’s being credited with blowing Prince Harry's cover in Afghanistan, even though the original stories were published in Australia and Germany and nobody noticed. They noticed when Drudge pointed them out, though. So that’s a credit."

What does this mean for journalism?

Bottom line:

• Shared content
• More information
• Better story coverage
  
• More news
• Increased reliability