NY Times: Newspapers to Use Links to Rivals on Web Sites. Newspaper Web sites, which commonly post articles from sister publications, wire services and even blogs, have typically stopped short of providing generous doses of news from competitors. The move made by these papers is not a result of cooperation across the industry as it is a counterattack by publishers against Google and Yahoo, which have stolen readers and advertisers from newspapers in recent years, both with their search engines and their own news aggregation services.
When I started my newspaper blog in 1999, I immediately began pointing to stories in competing newspapers, trade publications and just about any other outside source I could find. Why? Because the readers expected me to tell them where the best stuff was, and if my paper hadn’t done it, that meant pointing elsewhere.
News websites have been notoriously stingy in their crediting of others’ work, for the same reason that they hate to write stories that are catching up with other people’s scoops. It’s a competitive thing.
It’s a stupid thing, though, if the point is serving the readers.
Let’s hope this move catches on in a bigger way.
on Jul 31st, 2006 at 1:27 pm
There’s a bit of backstory that was missed here that I sent to the ONA… I’ll come up with it later tonight.
on Jul 31st, 2006 at 2:12 pm
[…] Dan Gillmor posted this morning about the New York Times article on Newspapers linking to other newspaper site. In Dan’s post there is one section that stood out to me besides the title A ‘Duh’ Moment for Newspapers. When I started my newspaper blog in 1999, I immediately began pointing to stories in competing newspapers, trade publications and just about any other outside source I could find. Why? Because the readers expected me to tell them where the best stuff was, and if my paper hadn’t done it, that meant pointing elsewhere. […]
on Jul 31st, 2006 at 5:22 pm
Non tutte le novità nascono negli Stati Uniti…
Grazie a un articolo del New York Times (caro, vecchio giornale tradizionale…) si parla in rete di un'iniziativa dei siti internet di Washington Post, New York Sun e Daily Oklahoman. Hanno stretto un accordo con Inform e presto saranno in……
on Jul 31st, 2006 at 8:59 pm
Enjoyed your posting. Little did you know that from the beginning you were a news aggregator of the best kind. You were passing on helpful information that was relevant to you and filtered through your news judgment. I believe the power of new media isn’t just links and news aggregation. It’s the sharing of information in a way that is personal and facilitates conversation.