Papers Clarify Policies for Contributors, Bylines

By: Joe Strupp In the wake of the Rick Bragg controversy, which last week prompted The New York Times national correspondent to resign amid scrutiny over his use of an uncredited stringer, newspapers nationwide are re-examining their own policies regarding datelines, bylines and credit for contributors, with several already invoking new rules to make clear who is doing the work and from where.

The Miami Herald made one of the first moves. According to a memo from Managing Editor Mark Seibel, the Herald will now give credit in byline or tagline form to all reporters or stringers who contribute to a story, while specifying where quotes came from, such as in a phone interview, e-mail statement, or televised press conference. And it will no longer use the vague phrase, "Herald wire services." Instead, the specific news service or wire service will be named and, if possible, placed directly next to the information it provided within the story. The memo states, "The point of all of these guides is to make certain our readers know where the information comes from."

Other immediate changes include The Boston Globe putting many of its longtime practices into a specific, written policy, according to Helen Donovan, Globe executive editor. She said the paper's regular practice is to give credit to anyone who contributes to a story -- either in a byline or tagline -- while using datelines only if "the bulk of reporting has been done from that location."

In most cases, editors for now are simply reviewing their procedures and clarifying them for employees, colleagues and, most of all, readers. From editorials to staff memos to columns, newsroom leaders are making sure the rules are clear, or at least out in the open.

The Washington Post, according to a story by its media writer Howard Kurtz, "often credits stringers and researchers in bylines or taglines at the end of stories," but reporters there were sent a reminder memo on proper attribution and dateline policies last week. The Wall Street Journal stated in a story that its practice is to use stringers in the United States "for little more than passing on tips," but that it makes significantly greater use of them in overseas bureaus.

Editors who spoke with E&P described policies that generally require bylines to be given to those who do most of the reporting on a story, while datelines should identify a location only if a reporter had been there. Differences arose, however, over when to credit a contributor. George De Lama, deputy managing editor/news at the Chicago Tribune, says credit is given only for a "substantial" addition to a story -- "more than a couple of paragraphs." At the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, a similar policy exists, according to Editor Ellen Soeteber.

For The Sun in Baltimore, datelines may only be used if the writer has been to the location "for a significant amount of time and done the reporting," says Tony Barbieri, Sun managing editor. He explains that the lead writer gets the byline, but all contributors to a particular story -- both staffers and stringers -- receive credit. "Even if someone contributes something and it isn't used, they get in," he said.