The byline on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name, and often the position, of the writer of the article. Bylines are traditionally placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably Reader's Digest) place bylines at the bottom of the page, to leave more room for graphical elements around the headline.
A typical newspaper byline might read
John Smith
Staff Writer
A byline can also include a brief article summary, introducing the writer by name.
Penning a concise description of a long piece has never been as easy as often appears, as Staff Writer John Smith now explains:
Magazine bylines, and bylines on opinion pieces, often include biographical information on their subjects. A typical biographical byline on a piece of creative nonfiction might read
John Smith is working on a book, My Time in Ibiza, based on this article. He is returning to the region this summer to gather material for a follow-up essay.
Most modern newspapers and magazines attribute their articles to individual editors, or to wire services. An exception is the British weekly The Economist, which publishes nearly all material anonymously.
Articles that originate from press agency journalists are sometimes incorrectly attributed to newspaper staff. Dominic Ponsford of the Press Gazette gives the following examples from the NAPA news agency awards.[1]
These practices are in violation of the 1998 Copyright Act which states that the originator of a story must 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".