Can't tell if you're joking, but it seems pretty clear. If you are a news outlet, reporting on something written by someone else — for example, a government rep

Can't tell if you're joking, but it seems pretty clear. If you are a news outlet, reporting on something written by someone else — for example, a government report, a scientific article, even a tweet — it makes sense to link to that external resource in the article. Yet, many websites refuse to do that, because it takes eyeballs away from the ads they're serving. I'd cite a reference supporting what I'm saying here, but I don't want you to stop reading my comment and go to a new page, just take my word for it.