The BBC asks, “how should we link?”
Mar 20th, 2010 by handolio
Interesting blog post yesterday from BBC News editor Steve Herrmann, essentially asking “how should we link?”
As Herrmann points out, the BBC has always provided relevant links – something I think is essential to good web journalism – but to date it hasn’t seemed comfortable bringing them into the body copy. That’s where the majority of the web seems agreed they should be – perhaps because the context tends to make them self-explanatory.
But the post is interesting not just because of what it asks, but because it shows the importance of clear linking policy to journalists. It shows how news organisations are only too aware of the value of links to the reader.
It’s also interesting for something it doesn’t mention – the value of links to the receiving site which, if they come from a goliath like BBC Online, is immense. This adds an extra dimension to considerations such as those raised by commenter Bob Almond – will you link to the websites of controversial or illegal newsmakers?
The BBC’s strategy review sets out that it should double click-throughs to third-party sites over the next three years. I wouldn’t be surprised if simply bringing the links into the body copy would achieve this.
I noticed last week that the BBC Cricket homepage is linking to ITV4′s online coverage of the Twenty20 championship in India, with the anchor text “Watch – Indian Premier League cricket (external website)”.
That’s linking directly to a competitor on the basis that the Beeb is ‘curating’ the best content, whatever the source.
Because I vividly remember a time when the Radio Times magazine acted as though other broadcasters didn’t exist (as did TV Times – you had to buy both. Remember?) this kind of gracious recommendation rather does my nut in.
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