Rob, I’m sure most educated readers can resist the temptation to click on a hyperlink while reading an article. Or at least, leave it in a separate tab only to read it later. In other cases, reading the content in the hyperlink might actually help the reader understand the context.

In my view, hyperlinks are important for accelerated learning. If everyone had to read books on a given topic every time they wished to look up something, learning will be very inefficient. Which defeats the purpose of using the Internet.

Of course, there are important concerns here in terms of the distraction hyperlinks cause readers. But I have to say, hyperlinks serve more of a practical purpose than being a huge drag on readability and journalism.

This is, of course, considering journalists are ethical enough not to include hyperlinks for the sake of advertising dollars. In that respect, I agree with you hyperlinks are good for sales but not so much “bad” for readers.