One of the more interesting conversations I had during my Scandinavian trip was with Norwegian journalist/bloggers who told
me the big Norwegian papers refuse to allow any of their bloggers to link to any outside blogs, especially those produced by other media outlets. The worry, I was told, is that readers will link out to the competing media and not come back. Today, as I was scanning our most successful blogs, including the new Shawn Vestal blog, The Falls, I noticed how we apply a completely different philosophy. We’ll link to just about any source any time, including other newspapers in our region. I have yet to see a downside to this. People are going to find this content without us. I’d much rather be the wheel point where people come for the links that interest them. And I trust they’ll come back/Editor
Steve Smith
, News Is A Conversation.
Question: Do you agree with Steve Smith that it’s better to be the wheel point in providing links than to refuse to send traffic elsewhere?