The use of hyperlinks in digital journalism. An analysis of four online newspapers in Mexico and Spain
Abstract
To identify the use of hyperlinks in digital news, as well as the importance given to it by newspaper readers, a quantitive analysis of four digital newspapers (two in Mexico and two in Spain) was carried out for two weeks and a survey of 208 undergraduate students at two universities, one in each country. It was found that the vast majority of the links were used to redirect to the newspapers’ own content and there was little effort to link to external sites. At least half of the respondents considered it relevant that the links are functional, in such a way that, if there is a broken link, they would resume reading the news article. These results suggest that there is a disparity between the use of hyperlinks by the media and the importance they have for audiences.
Downloads
Article download
Crossmark
License
In order to support the global exchange of knowledge, the journal Estudios sobre el Mensaje Periodístico is allowing unrestricted access to its content as from its publication in this electronic edition, and as such it is an open-access journal. The originals published in this journal are the property of the Complutense University of Madrid and any reproduction thereof in full or in part must cite the source. All content is distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 use and distribution licence (CC BY 4.0). This circumstance must be expressly stated in these terms where necessary. You can view the summary and the complete legal text of the licence.
