You've completely missed my point: if you want my attention you're more likely to get it for the longer term if you provide me with what I'm looking for, including citations, because I'll keep coming back. If on the other hand you're obstructive by not providing this, you probably won't. From a monetisation perspective it therefore makes sense to provide those citations.

Exactly! If a site gives me useful info and leads me to more, the site is much more likely to be the FIRST place I look for similar stuff next time. Otherwise they go on a mental blacklist and I never click on the links to that site in the first place.

Thus news should not be a business. The business model of news is diametrically opposed to informing the public. We’re better off sticking to nonprofit journalism.

Yet Wikipedia is the one creating actual economic value