What if? Journalists had to reference sources...

No matter how they're viewed at home, the BBC remains in my view the international gold standard for news, information, and entertainment. God bless'em. And could you imagine any other "news organisation" (a.k.a. pernicious purveyors of distracting deceits) going so far as to require ".. inline links must go to primary sources only– eg scientific journal article or policy report .. " in their new linking guidelines?

You can find a brilliant argument for why this might be a good idea in Ben Goldacre's book Bad Science: Quacks, Hacks, and Big Pharma Flacks which I've recently read and cannot recommend too highly for anyone with half a brain. And while you are reading, if you find yourself getting pretty angry and muttering curses under your breath, you will probably appreciate a regular media assassination courtesy Curry & Dvorak of the noagenda show.

Blogarhythm: Don't Lie - Black Eyed Peas Update 17-Oct-2011: Ben Goldacre had a good rant about Bad Science at TED this year: