Why do we need the entire text of news articles in this thread? We all have access to internet news, don't we?
You're right, it eats up way too much space.
Links to news stories aren't always permanent. Here, the articles remain intact, indefinitely.
Call me lazy, but most of the time if I see a story with a just a link, I just skip it. It's much easier to just read it here. But if you're going to post a story, you should always give credit to the author and include the source, if there is one.
