Fake bylines

[Alma]

Journatic and Tribune Co.

http://jimromenesko.com/2012/06/30/journatic-is-caught-using-fake-bylines/

Pretty disgusting. Not surprised, though, mind you. Outsourcing journalism to foreign countries seems particularly brazen, but it's not illegal. Whatever to make a buck. Nothing's more important than a buck.

 

[KJIM]

I've used a fake byline. And yes, I did it to make a buck. I can't point fingers.

 

[J-School Blue]

I heard the piece on NPR about this lovely practice this afternoon.

I don't so much knock the (outsourced, paid-pennies-on-dollar) writers doing it, but if outfits like the Chicago Tribune are running stories with fake bylines on them, that raises a lot of questions about the accountability of major papers for what they're putting out. I realize these are mainly real estate and death briefs, but if it starts there and makes a profit, you know it's going to lead to other types of editorial.

Mostly I wonder if this is what the future of journalism looks like, which I don't think says anything good about where we're headed.

 

[BDC99]

So, did I miss the purpose of the fake bylines? Is it to cover the fact they are outsourcing the work, or something more sinister (RAYCIST!)? What was the point?

 

[KYSportsWriter]

So, did I miss the purpose of the fake bylines? Is it to cover the fact they are outsourcing the work, or something more sinister (RAYCIST!)? What was the point?

The link above didn't really clear any of that up ...

 

[BDC99]

So, did I miss the purpose of the fake bylines? Is it to cover the fact they are outsourcing the work, or something more sinister (RAYCIST!)? What was the point?

The link above didn't really clear any of that up ...

My assumption was that they didn't want the section littered with a bunch of Filipino names and have readers wondering why. But I have no idea.

 

[Abe Vigoda]

Why would anybody pretend to be someone they're not?

 

[J-School Blue]

So, did I miss the purpose of the fake bylines? Is it to cover the fact they are outsourcing the work, or something more sinister (RAYCIST!)? What was the point?

The link above didn't really clear any of that up ...

My assumption was that they didn't want the section littered with a bunch of Filipino names and have readers wondering why. But I have no idea.

Journatic didn't offer much explanation in the "This American Life" piece. It seemed like it was driven by the same idea that encourages workers in Indian call centers to use English names and accents. So it won't be entirely obvious you're reading work that's been done through outsourcing at a content farm.

Apparently the writers selected a computerized "pick alias" option after they were done with their story, that plugged in names ranging from Glenda Smith to Jimmy Finkle. Very strange.

 

[BDC99]

So, did I miss the purpose of the fake bylines? Is it to cover the fact they are outsourcing the work, or something more sinister (RAYCIST!)? What was the point?

The link above didn't really clear any of that up ...

My assumption was that they didn't want the section littered with a bunch of Filipino names and have readers wondering why. But I have no idea.

So it won't be entirely obvious you're reading work that's been done through outsourcing at a content farm.

This was what I figured made the most sense.

 

[britwrit]

Oh yeah. It was a fascinating story. Here's the link...

http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/468/switcheroo

 

[Oggiedoggie]

I heard the "This American Life" episode and tried to explain the story to my wife.

She said that I must not have heard it correctly.

 

[BillyT]

I really think we as journalists overrate bylines.

Who *cares* what name is on it?

 

[Riptide]

I really think we as journalists overrate bylines.

Who *cares* what name is on it?

You cannot be serious.

The credibility of a proven reporter, for one reason.

 

[beardpuller]

Eeess Peggy, how can I help you? Journaleestic eentegrity? Hold please!

 

[J-School Blue]

I really think we as journalists overrate bylines.

Who *cares* what name is on it?

You cannot be serious.

The credibility of a proven reporter, for one reason.

It's not about anyone "overrating" anything.

It's about the credibility of the work. If a company won't even put the real name of the employee doing it on the copy they're generating, and is making up entirely fake names to hide the source of the copy they're putting out, who knows what else about their work isn't valid.

 

[Diego Marquez]

You mean when I write in to Dear Abby, no one named Abby gets my letter?

 

[Mizzougrad96]

The first paper I worked at had a couple stringers who did this because they didn't want their papers to know they were stringing for us.

Early in my career, I was covering a minor sport and covering it for four different papers (my boss knew about it and would throw stringing work my way all the time) and one editor asked me if I wanted to leave out my byline that would be fine and I said, "No, it's OK, all of the papers I'm stringing for know that I'm doing this for more than one paper..."

 

[Johnny Dangerously]

I suppose I'd better make it clear: Johnny Dangerously is not my real name.

 

[lcjjdnh]

Jack Shafer's take:

http://blogs.reuters.com/jackshafer/2012/07/06/how-the-byline-beast-was-born/

 

[Spartan Squad]

I really think we as journalists overrate bylines.

Who *cares* what name is on it?

You cannot be serious.

The credibility of a proven reporter, for one reason.

It's not about anyone "overrating" anything.

It's about the credibility of the work. If a company won't even put the real name of the employee doing it on the copy they're generating, and is making up entirely fake names to hide the source of the copy they're putting out, who knows what else about their work isn't valid.

We had a guy who covered for our paper one night because myself (I was SE at the time) and the ME needed to be out of town. He wasn't supposed to work for us, because his day job wouldn't have been happy (the exact reason escapes me, but it is not pertinent to this story). While I was gone, he took a gamer for me and signed the name "Henry Jones, Jr." My ME was pissed. We understood the need to keep his name a secret, but this put it on the level of a joke, and we were the ones facing a credibility hit.

I myself write with a pen name, but people know who I am and I've printed what my real name is. I use a pen name only because my real name is complicated to say, and it is just what I go by to make things easier for everyone. It really comes down to credibility. If you don't know who is writing the story, why do you believe it?