I am a new member on this site. My very first attempt at publishing a story was deleted by a Senior Editor with an e mail note stating that my story link constituted spam. Further correspondence with this editor has not resolved the question of what constituted spam in my particular case. Here are the basic facts:

I published a story and credited the on line journalist that generated the story by direct link.. This on line journalist writes for crooksandliars.com I   encouraged readers to read the story for more details than I provided.

When I asked for a more detailed explanation of "link spam" here is what transpired:  my e-mail:

Re: "Can Private Insurance Kill You?" marked as Spam

Please help me out here. I fail to see how my linking to a story written by someone on a "commercial external website", constitutes promoting a product or service. Is the writer's opinion a product or service? The fact that the story is on a commercial blog does not mean that I am endorsing this site in general. Merely, that the story was published there.
Respectfully,

Here is the response I received:

Re: "Can Private Insurance Kill You?" marked as Spam

Please find a non-commercial source to reference. This  was after waiting for 2 days for a response. My next e-mail and response are as follows:

Re: "Can Private Insurance Kill You?" marked as Spam

I'm sorry. I don't understand what you mean by a non commercial source. Does the source have to be a .org? Or is linking directly not permitted? Can I link to the NY Times or Washington Post?  And the response: 

If the sole purpose of the site is to sell the product or service that your article or the article at that site is selling/promoting/endorsing then it is not an acceptable source. If the source site merely makes money, like the NYTimes, but has no other vested interest in the article topic than it is fine. It feels as if you are deliberately being difficult on this matter. (my bold)An article at an insurance agency site explaining insurance options is very different than an article at a for profit news site outlining the same information. The for profit news site has no vested interest in swaying people to purchase any type of insurance, an agency site does. It is not a hard distinction to understand. As for your linking question, I am afraid I don't understand. If you mean a read more here link or a link to a continuation of your NP post without using highlight that may be flagged as link spam.

Lords knows I can be difficult, but I'm having a hard time seeing how asking for an answer to a reasonable question constitutes being difficult. I still have not received a response to my original question as noted above. The question is and remains: What product or service was being directly promoted by the on line journalist whose story I linked to? Furthermore, what product or service was being directly promoted by crooksandliars?

I want to play by the rules, but the rules need to be objective. If I'm out of line, and can be shown concretely what is wrong with my link, I'll apologize and move on

Please note that I have deliberately removed the name of the editor in question as a matter of privacy and courtesy.
With all due respect,
Nanute