Dear newspapers: Where are the links?

Earlier this evening I read a bunch of online news from traditional newspapers.

Here’s what I read:

1. Start-ups stifled by noncompetes, Boston Globe

2. Investors Bet on Payments via Cellphone, NYT

3. Digg Brainstorming new communication tools for users, LA Times

4. iPhone Upgrades could hurt some applications, SFGate

One thing stuck out in every case and it really surprised me.

Not one of those stories linked out to an external site. Some of them had links to internal pages but nothing external.

I have noticed the NYT will include external links in their “blog” section (good example on this recent post about PayPal). Not sure i understand the difference.

Much has been written about the future of newspapers.

One thing is for sure: online news requires links.