Byline

For other uses, seeByline (disambiguation).

Thebyline(orby-lineinBritish English) on anewspaperormagazinearticle gives the name of thewriterof thearticle.Bylines are commonly placed between theheadlineand the text of the article, although some magazines (notablyReader's Digest) place bylines at the bottom of the page to leave more room for graphical elements around the headline.

Dictionary.comdefines a byline as "a printed line of text accompanying a news story, article, or the like, giving the author's name".

Examples

A typical newspaper byline might read:

Tom Joyce
New Boston Post Reporter

A byline can also include a brief article summary that introduces the author by name:

Penning a concise description of a long piece has never been as easy as often appears, asStaff WriterJohn Smithnow explains:

Magazine bylines and bylines onopinion piecesoften include biographical information on their subjects. A typical biographical byline on a piece ofcreative nonfictionmight read:

John Smith is working on a book,My Time in Ibiza,based on this article. He is returning to the region this summer to gather material for a follow-up essay.

Prevalence

Bylines were rare before the late 19th century. Before then, the most similar practice was the occasional "signed" or "signature" article.The wordbylineitself first appeared in print in 1926, in a scene set in a newspaper office inThe Sun Also Risesby Ernest Hemingway.

One of the earliest consistent uses of the idea was for battlefield reporting during the American Civil War. In 1863, Union GeneralJoseph Hookerrequiredbattlefield reportersto sign their articles so that he would know which journalist to blame for any errors or security violations.

The practice became more popular at the end of the 19th century, asjournalistsbecame more powerful and popular figures.Bylines were used to promote or create celebrities among someyellow journalistsduring this time. Proponents of signed articles believed that the signature made the journalist more careful and more honest; publishers thought it made papers sell better.

However, the increasing use of bylines was resisted by others, including the publisher–owner ofThe New York Times,Adolph Ochs,who believed that bylines interfered with the impersonal nature of news and decreased the sense of institutional responsibility for an article's content.Bylines remained rare in that newspaper for several more decades.

The firstAssociated Presswire services story with a byline appeared in 1925, and the practice became commonplace shortly afterwards.

Since the 1970s, most modern newspapers and magazines have attributed almost all but their shortest articles and their owneditorialpieces to individual reporters or towire services.

An exception is the British weeklyThe Economist,which publishes nearly all material except blog postsanonymously.The Economistexplains this practice as being traditional and reflective of the collaborative nature of their reporting.

False attribution

Articles that originate from press agency journalists are sometimes incorrectly attributed to newspaper staff. Dominic Ponsford of thePress Gazettegives the following examples:

• Ben Ellery's interview with the boyfriend of murderedJo Yeatesappeared in theDaily MailandDaily Mirror;the former newspaper carried four bylines, none of which credited Ellery.
• Andrew Buckwell's exclusive on a paternity issue involvingBoris Johnsonappeared in theDaily Mailwithout a byline crediting him.

Ponsford also highlights cases in which newspapers byline fictional authors for pieces that attack other newspapers: for example, theDaily Express's use of "Brendon Abbott".

See also

• Acknowledgment (creative arts and sciences)
• Attribution (copyright)
• Byline strike
• Credit (creative arts)
• Dateline
• Lower third,byline for TV journalists
• Pen name
• Signature block
• Strapline,unrelated but often confused, this is a slogan or product name in advertising.