Linking To and From

Mark Glaser at the Online Journalism Review examines recent changes at popular news sites regarding linking strategies. Some sites, such as the BBC and News.com, have expanded their external links from stories. While other walled garden sites, such as the NY times and WSJ, are releasing free stories or staging “free days” to encourage linking into their archives.

A sample quote from Jai Singh, founding editor of News.com:

“We cannot pretend to have eyes and ears on everything that’s going on out there,” Singh said. “So you have to accept the fact that you have to engage the readers the way they want to get the news. You have to accept the fact that you can’t be the sole gatekeepers.”

Worth the read.