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byline strike?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by JayFarrar, Dec 14, 2008.

  1. ink-stained wretch

    ink-stained wretch Active Member

    No, Smash, I haven't. But I've had it happen the other way around several times. Git some good laughs out of that.

    Byline strikes are feckless, but what else do they have for a guild action?
     
  2. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    I haven't looked at a byline since I left the business almost four years ago.
     
  3. txsportsscribe

    txsportsscribe Active Member

    where did i say anything about what we do having no value? and you say my statement is false and that it's been proven to be false. show me.
     
  4. ballscribe

    ballscribe Active Member

    We had one for awhile at my paper a bit ago, during union negotiations. Never, ever saw the point of it. But then, the union didn't ask my opinion.
     
  5. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    That happened to us on a national story we broke a few years ago. We complained to the bureau chief about it and the writer got fired.
     
  6. STLIrish

    STLIrish Active Member

    I've got no problem with AP. And I fiercely believe that there's value in what we do, and in the fact that it's done in different ways by different thinking humans.
    But a byline strike seems like a giant waste of energy. Management doesn't give a shit if there's a byline, they just want the story. And you're still giving it to them, just without your name on the top. So what are you accomplishing?
     
  7. clutchcargo

    clutchcargo Active Member

    Good grief, what's the big deal about leaving an AP byline on the story? My reaction whenever I see a story with a full AP byline vs. one that just says Associated Press or "wire reports" is that the one with a writer's name has more credibilty.

    If I follow golf, I'm more likely to read a story with Doug Ferguson's name on it than one without a name. And isn't that the whole point---to get the reader to care about a story enough to read it? Methinks writer's name being present helps more than not.
     
  8. shotglass

    shotglass Guest

    That's considerably more thought than I'm bound to give regarding the credibility of an AP story.
     
  9. JayFarrar

    JayFarrar Well-Known Member

    My point was that if you say the reader doesn't give a damn about the byline, than that means by extension it doesn't matter who writes the story.
    As long as the paper has the story.
    But then that means the reader doesn't notice that a stringer was sent to cover the game, or it was generated off a call-in.
    So in terms of value it means nothing to the reader that a veteran sportswriter was sent to cover the game as opposed to the alternatives of wire, stringer or call-in.
    In my experience, people do notice who covers the game they want to read about.
    By saying the reader doesn't give a damn, that means that you are saying what you do has no value. And I don't think that is true.

    And in numerous cases of layoffs and buyouts, one of the biggest complaints by readers is what happened to the reporter who covered this or the columnist who wrote about that. I've seen it in action personally and it just isn't anecdotal, Poynter has posted numerous stories from different papers about the same thing.
     
  10. Angola!

    Angola! Guest

    I forgot all about this and I almost started bitching in the newsroom about why there weren't any bylines on anything today.

    Then I remembered the strike.

    It really didn't make any difference, except allowing us to get an extra line of copy in. It did look strange, though.

    Also, Doug Ferguson's name was on his On the Fringe feature today, but maybe because that is a standing item or something.
     
  11. Magic In The Night

    Magic In The Night Active Member

    Well, this explains why the Caroline Kennedy feature story today was sent over by AP with no byline and possibly why it was so late. Interesting. I was wondering why a story like that would come over with no byline. I noticed and possibly readers will, too, as we usually would run a byline on a big long feature story like that. Who knows if it makes any difference but I think a byline strike is a good way to fight back even if it does nothing. At least you're trying something.
     
  12. zebracoy

    zebracoy Guest

    I was of the understanding that the lack of bylines was meant by the writers to show management the potential stories that would go without being produced had the staff reductions hit their goal.

    Also, some bylines are on the stories because those writers are not partaking in such a strike (a.k.a. those who feel their jobs are safe).
     
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