My 2 Cents: I’ll Keep Linking, But …

I’ve been thinking about that flap launched Thursday when Coeur d’Alene Press Editor Mike Patrick e-mailed a demand that Huckleberries Online quit linking to his paper’s online articles. ( Which led to this wonderful thread. ) I hope Patrick knows that such links are in the public domain and he has no power to make such a demand. I’ll be concerned with his decision-making abilities in this brave new cyber world if he doesn’t. As many of you know, I pointed out to him in the e-mail exchange that this site drives traffic to his whenever I post a link from CDAPress.com. A lot of traffic. He apparently views HBO as a competitor benefitting from his staff’s work. He should view HBO as a former rival that’s helping out his Web traffic. More below .

My philosophy has always been to promote area papers, columnists and bloggers by providing links to their work. Readers still have to click on the link to read the rest of the story. Online writers have expressed their appreciation for the links, from Statesman Opinion Editor Kevin Richert and Idaho Press-Tribune Editor Vickie Holbrook to St. Maries Gazette-Record owner Dan Hammes and River Journal owner Trish Gannon. In the past, I’ve linked to some Press articles that were marginal at best, simply to drive traffic in appreciation for rightful access to better stories. I no longer will do that. The Press links you’ll see now will be to stories that warrant posting or comment. I have more than enough interesting material from my bloggers, commenters, e-mailers and cooperative online newspapers to fill my front page.