Big byline: A look at lengthening byline credits at The New York Times

A few years ago, I found myself looking at New York Times bylines a lot more. I couldn’t help it really.

I was used to seeing a single line of type under each headline reading “By First Last.” Suddenly, or so it felt, every article was written by a team. The multi-bylines (as I’ll call them) took up more space and their visual novelty, more than anything, made me notice them.

My impression was partially right, but not entirely. Looking at 30 years of the Times index, I found that today about 18% of all New York Times news articles (and 20% of those appearing in print) are multi-bylined — hardly “every” article, but still a decent chunk.

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