The problem with deadline-driven media is that once one’s printed “all the news that fits” there is precious little room for follow-up stories. Media outlets will chase each others’ reporters around town, hoping to scoop each other on the next breaking story, while few newsrooms provide updates on the stories that aren’t breaking. There are exceptions, of course, such as the Duke Lacrosse case or a notorious murder trial. In general, though, once a story gets bumped off the front page (or the metaphorical front page for broadcast news organizations), it tends to be forgotten.
One huge advantage a media company’s website could provide is links to the previous stories on a case or topic. Occasionally one can find a list of “related stories,” but more often than not any update stands alone on the website. Why is this?
Hypertext was invented decades ago (and has been used on the Internets for two decades), yet news stories on the web rarely if ever link back to previous stories on the topic. News stories rarely include links to the persons, companies, or organizations mentioned in the story, too. It seems like news on the Internet is frequently the text of the print story pasted into a webpage and little more.
Perhaps the reason traditional media is losing ground to Internet sources is because they treat the Internet as traditional media. If media companies would take advantage of the benefits the web has to offer they could turn their product into something far beyond their print or broadcast offerings.