A byline is a line of text that accompanies a news story, article, or the like, giving the authors name. It is commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines place bylines at the bottom of the page to leave more room for graphical elements around the headline. Bylines were rare before the late 19th century, and the most similar practice was the occasional "signed" or "signature" article. The word "byline" itself first appeared in print in 1926, in a scene set in a newspaper office in The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway.
In journalism, a byline tells the reader who wrote the story. On short, un-bylined stories, bylines may not be used. For text stories with datelines, bylines may be used only if the journalist was in the datelined location. If a reporter in the field works with another staffer and both deserve bylines, the name of the staffer in the field normally goes first and a tag line gives each staffer’s location. Bylines are also given to photographers, broadcast reporters, and video journalists who provide information without which there would be no story. For stories without datelines, the byline goes to the writer, with credit in a tag line to the reporters who contributed substantial information.
In design, a byline is a short phrase that indicates the name of the author of an article in a publication. Bylines can be a way for clients to get organic media exposure through writing a piece in a magazine or newspaper, pulling from their industry experience and building the company’s platform in the process.
