1. Welcome to SportsJournalists.com, a friendly forum for discussing all things sports and journalism.

    Your voice is missing! You will need to register for a free account to get access to the following site features:
    • Reply to discussions and create your own threads.
    • Access to private conversations with other members.
    • Fewer ads.

    We hope to see you as a part of our community soon!

Which do you prefer?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by bdh02, Jul 30, 2006.

  1. bdh02

    bdh02 Member

    Just a random wondering of mine — you see lots of different titles under bylines these days. They range from "staff writer" to just saying the name of the paper. In some cases, it lists the writer's e-mail address. What's it like in your shop, which do you prefer and why?

    I'm partial to it just saying the name of the paper.
     
  2. Bubba Fett

    Bubba Fett Active Member

    The paper's name is located at the top of each page already, so why have it below the writer's name?

    At my shop we use Staff Writer, which is OK, but I actually prefer having my e-mail address -- if only so I don't have to waste a couple of lines at the end of each article telling reachers how they can contact me.
     
  3. RedCanuck

    RedCanuck Active Member

    We use staff reporter/editor for our second-line in the news section, and "Paper" Sports, in the sports section. I'm not sure how that exactly started. I can see how Reporter X, "Paper Name" would be useful if you're in a chain or a paper that uses syndication from other sources a lot though, it helps you identify and take credit of your own people.

    As for e-mail addresses, I do like them at the footer of stories, though in our instance, I have mine in the page header and I don't see any reason to bombard readers with it.
     
  4. BTExpress

    BTExpress Well-Known Member

    I prefer e-mail address under the byline. Wish we did it that way.

    In our shop there is a horizontal rule at the end of the story, then a line of space, and then 3-4 lines of type saying "Joe Blow can be reached at jblow@dailybugle.com."

    The whole thing wastes 5 lines of space.

    May not sound like much, but it can make the difference in a too-long story being an easy cut and a difficult cut.
     
  5. Bamadog

    Bamadog Well-Known Member

    That was the only thing we did right at my last shop: having the email addy below your byline. At my present job, we repeat our name (as if you don't know what paper you're reading.) ::)
     
  6. Bubba Fett

    Bubba Fett Active Member

    Not only does it waste space, but if you got a couple of stories on a page -- sidebar, notebook, whatever -- then you got "Bubba can be reached at ..." two or three times on the same page. Just seems so unnecessary when you can solve it by putting the email address under my name.
     
  7. wickedwritah

    wickedwritah Guest

    We put e-mail addresses in the byline-2 field, then put phone numbers in a tag line at the end.

    At my old paper, it was:
    "By Lon Dawng,"
    "Schmuckystein Reporter,"
    "xxxxxx@schmuckstein.com."

    If it was a stringer, the third line was "newsroom@schmuckstein.com." The third line was incredibly annoying.
     
  8. Why is the "Joe Blow can be reached at" part necessary? It's the newspaper equivalent of phone recordings that say things like, "You've reached Mike. After the tone, please leave a detailed message, including your name, telephone number, and the reason you're calling, and I will get back to you as soon as possible." People know what to do after the beep, and people know what they can do with an email address. If they see an email address at the bottom of a story, they will understand that they can reach the writer of that story at that email address. Just put "msmith@times.com" and save yourself a line or two...though I don't know how "Joe Blow can be reached at jblow@dailybugle.com" takes 3-4 lines in the first place.
     
  9. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    Ours look like:

    By Cosmo Kramer
    ckramer@kramericaindustries.com
    (KL5) 555-1298
     
  10. nietsroob17

    nietsroob17 Well-Known Member

    Way we do it is (Name of Paper) Sports Writer (or News, or Lifestyles). We put the e-mail at the end of the story.
     
  11. Satchel Pooch

    Satchel Pooch Member

    You mean:

    (KL5) 555-FILK
     
  12. Cosmo

    Cosmo Well-Known Member

    ;D
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page