The concept of hypertext in digital journalism

Abstract

Hypertext writing is one of the main characteristics of digital news sites that makes them different from other news media. However, the concept of hypertext has been developed more from documentation and literature than from journalism itself. An important part of the hypertext theory comes from these areas, connected with journalism but different from it. These hypertext theories are often applied to journalism without analysing the real effects of hypertext on the organization of the news and its actual contribution to the news themselves. In this paper we approach the concept of hypertext from a double perspective: first, we analyse the possible effects of hypertext on the news and then, we consider the changes hypertext may introduce in the construction of the news. With this aim, we critically examine some ideas of the classic theorists of hypertext such as Jay David Bolter (1990) or George Landow (1995, 1997 and 1998) who associate this concept with a unique textuality, organised as a network, open, not linear, and without a centre, as opposed to an assumed hierarchical and linear textuality of the paper. Instead, we propose that there is not just one type of hypertext but a variety of hypertexts which have different effects on the news. We define hypertext as a multilinear discursive construction based on the interconnection of digitalized text blocks. We

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