News links and the lost generation

I was just reading about a leading blogger's frustrations with a London newspaper for interviewing him at length but not linking to his site, when clearly it would have been appropriate and gracious.

I'd say the author of this story in the (U.K.) Guardian was pretty thorough in his use of links, even though our blogger, Andy Beard, has a legit beef. Europe long has been ahead of the U.S. in connecting print and online.

When you read a lot of blogs, of course, you take it for granted that links will be made, that they will be relevant. And that comments will be encouraged (even if they're monitored). On that level, almost all major newspaper sites fail. Most rarely link out except in listings, "service" stories and the like.

The New York Times, for example, inserts links into some of its main news stories, but they almost always go to the Times' archive search results for the linked terms. These keyword links appear automated and rarely are of much use. (This may be linked to recently abandoned attempts to restrict all archive access.) The Los Angeles Times' hard news stories typically contain no links.

I worked on newspapers and magazines for decades, and in web news publishing for 13 years. It took a lot of work to convince execs that linking was a good thing. Why would we send people to other web sites? We want them to stay here and view our ads. That sort of thing. When I pressed for links to direct competitors, it was time to break out the defilibrators.

Another barrier: Good contextual linking can't be done by computers, despite what the database guys promise. Doing that job well means dedicated manpower. As in salaries and benefits. Tough sell.

In my experience, publishers talk up a storm about the Internet being the future, while their online units gasp for basic resources. This seemed to be a universal experience for web news units, based on the annual commiseration confab hosted by the Online News Assn.

(My old boss, publisher Bob Dowling of the Hollywood Reporter, actually demanded we hire a links editor. Smart guy.)

Suits and bean-counters aren't the only resisters: Most reporters and editors have only recently warmed to online as anything more than a repurposer of news. Still, far too many editorial staffers would just as soon see new media go away -- too much extra work, too complicated, too transparent.

I do believe the sea change will come only when Gen X starts filling the executive ranks. On this front, mine is a lost generation.

(Confession/disclaimer: I use links on my DVD blog to link to Amazon products. Although the content on Amazon can be quite useful, I profit from any sales. ... Feel free to tear the mask of hypocrisy from my face.)