Do Corens and Perez herald death of the byline?
The OED’s definition of ‘byline’ is “a line at the beginning or end of a piece of writing in a newspaper or magazine that gives the writer’s name”. But a number of insights into media workings have made this writership concept much murkier than before.Most readers understand that in newspapers and magazines, a certain level of editing takes place without affecting the byline. The headlines and the clever captions are usually the work of the sub-editors – who remain largely anonymous and uncredited. It’s always interesting to gain some awareness into this process. Memorably, Times columnist Giles Coren went on a remarkable rant against sub-editors who, he felt, messed up his copy beyond recognition.
