Writing for the Web has given me back a printing press. Online writing is more accessible, has greater reach and offers the technology to apply greater breadth and depth to my writing and connect me more permanently with a community of readers. I admit it. I'm infatuated and perhaps some day the downside of writing online will become evident. Stickers emblazoned with that motto were everywhere, even affixed to the wall above the toilet roll dispenser in the restroom of the suburban bureau where I worked.
Good writing requires great reporting, an overabundance of information.
But like the iceberg that doomed the Titanic, the power of solid reporting resides below the surface with only the tip revealing the most compelling quotes, examples, and observations. Too often, writers sink their stories with information they can't bear to part with even if it's not relevant. Links allow you to add content without interfering with the flow of your story. Readers didn't' have to rely solely on my interpretation. The first stories I wrote as a young police reporter were police briefs.