Daringfireball.net on attribution_and_credit
Linking is indeed key. You get a story from somewhere else, you link to the original when you post about it. That's the first rule of web attribution.
There are reasons why AllThingsD is far more respected than CNET.
"Enthusiast site" is pejorative. Enthusiast implies that MacStories is produced by zealous hobbyists. Not naming the site at all implied that the site was not worthy of being named. To later attribute it to "macstories.net" rather than "MacStories" implies that it is something less than a fellow peer publication, and not even worth the effort of hitting the shift key to camelcase the M and S. MacStories is the name of the website; macstories.net is MacStories's domain name. This is subtle, yes, but it is a disparagement nonetheless -- the most begrudging form of attribution that could have been added.
I don't see the angle on it. Why not err on the side of magnanimity?
All work is better when it is signed by its creators. Edward Tufte says:
Agencies, departments, and organizations don't do things -- people do things. People's names should be on things to foster both accountability and pride.