"I think in hyperlinks, even when working in print." I was reading the results of an informal survey about blogging journalists, and that observation from one of the respondents really caught my attention. The results of the survey, which were released this week at Online Journalism Blog, asked journalists with blogs how they perceived that blogging had changed their jobs.

While the survey brought some up some interesting points about blogging, this observation about hyperlinks got me thinking about the increased need to provide more information to readers and just how Web-oriented we're becoming in the media professions.

Before we started thinking in multiple media, we concentrated on writing an article that was informative, interesting, well-structured and factually correct when it appeared in print. We needed to have all the relevant information right there for the reader. But with the migration of media to the Web, the possibility of gifting the reader with other opportunities to read and view supplemental information has made it necessary for writers and editors to figure out what links and Web sites can add value to a story. If the story is posted on the Web, the hyperlinks are easy for the reader to follow. But if the reader is reading the actual magazine or newspaper or newsletter, how helpful are links?

It's easy to assume that the reader will run to the computer to check out any Web sites mentioned in the article or story, but what's the reality? When I'm reading the article, I find myself repeating the Web site address to myself over and over so I won't forget it. But in the gap between the time I see the Web site in a print article and the time I sit down to the computer, I rarely remember that I intended to check out a Web site. I don't know if this is a sign of my middle-age memory or if it is a frustration shared by other readers of multiple media. It will be interesting to see how this dilemma plays out over the next few years as we re-define how we deliver information to our readers.

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--Martha Lundin, editorial associate

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Hello, rdwriter! 

Thank you for your comment on my blog entry. I don't think we've even begun to scratch the surface of how the Internet has changed us (or how it will change us in the future). If you want to read an interesting article on the subject, check out "Is Google Making Us Stupid?" from the July/August issue of The Atlantic.

--Martha Lundin