Byline - False Attribution

False Attribution

Articles that originate from press agency journalists are sometimes incorrectly attributed to newspaper staff. Dominic Ponsford of the Press Gazette gives the following examples:

  • Ben Ellery's interview with the boyfriend of murdered Jo Yeates, appeared in the Daily Mail and Daily Mirror; the former newspaper carried four bylines, none of which credited Ellery.
  • Andrew Buckwell's exclusive on a paternity issue involving Boris Johnson appeared in the Daily Mail without a byline crediting him.

Such practices are questionable in light of copyright law, which governs how the originator of a story should receive acknowledgement.

Ponsford also highlights cases in which newspapers byline fictional authors for pieces that attack other newspapers: for example the Daily Express's use of "Brendon Abbott".

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