A Link to the Future

Some journalists argue that linking to other news sources is the only way for traditional news websites to survive next to know-it-all blogs and Google-esque webispheres...and some traditional sites are finally starting to listen...

It's an uncomfortable topic of conversation in newsrooms of every variety: What is the future of news journalism?

With a shudder and possibly a gesture warding off evil, most old-hand reporters and editors will answer immediately with "Online News"...but according to some more progressive thinkers, that's not enough to save a struggling trade.

So what is the real future of journalism?

According to journalists like Scott Karp, co-founder and CEO of web-based news wire Publish2,Ink, the wave of the future is Link Journalism...and traditional news sources are finally just starting to catch on.

SO WHAT IS LINK JOURNALISM?

Essentially, Link Journalism acts as a filter of news information. It is a way for news consumers to go to one site, and be greeted with a plethora of places to go in order to find out about things that interest them.

Example:

Instead of the Washington Post website just having content written by staff, the website would have links to relevant information found all over the Web.

With link journalism, the focus is on giving access to news rather than just focusing on the individual presentation of news.

WHY IS IT SO GREAT AND WHY SHOULD WE CARE?

For those skeptical of the success of this linking idea, Karp says one need look no further than that ubiquitous company: Google.


For a while, Google had a monopoly on the link sytem, and in turn created a whole multi-gazillion dollar company just off of the idea of sending people elsewhere.

“It’s all about sending people away, and [Google] does such a good job of it that
people keep coming back for more.”- Scott Karp

This is the idea that Karp says traditional news sources need to embrace. Instead of spending all energy and resources on keeping consumers glued to one page, Karp says newspapers need to become the place that people go to to find out where to go.

Of course, this is a big scary change for newspapers and news sites. However, the shift toward linking is in no way a call for these news sources to stop producing new content. It is merely the suggestion that these sites provide new content AND opportunities to find additional content elsewhere.

Also, as scary as it may seem at first, linking is newspapers' and network news' best chance to steal back the power they have been losing to professional linking sites like Google and Yahoo.

OLD PRO'S AND NEW CONVERTS

Sites like Google and Yahoo pioneered the idea of linking. They built their whole existence around the idea that they would show people where to go for the things they wanted.

More recently, these sites have been joined by an explosion of bloggers like The Drudge Report and Digg. These sites feature both original content and links out to more content. These web communities have gradually sapped the power of traditional news sources to decide what is news worthy. Editors and Producers of newspapers and networks are going to these sophisticated blogs to find content instead of the other way around!

But some traditional news sources have awakened to the idea of linkage and have started shifting and making changes. One prime example is NBC's new local sites aimed at sending consumers fresh, local information from the best sources available.


Humans are creatures of habit. If it becomes habit for them to go to one site because they know that site will send them wherever they need to go to find out the newest information, then they will become comfortable using that site for home base. Now is the time for newspapers to once again become that home base. Maybe it's already too late but for traditional news sources, the truth is link or die.