Byline on gamer when writer doesn't go to the game

[Tarheel316]

The byline signifies original, on-site reporting. (You don't put bylines on re-fashioned news releases, either.) Putting a byline on what is traditionally regarded as the "gamer," if the reporter wasn't present, is misleading. Even if putting a byline on a gamer that wasn't personally staffed signifies nothing to 99.9 percent of the readers, it's a poor practice, professionally speaking.

If the product of a non-staffed "gamer" is more of what is traditionally called a second-day take or what we'd call a "live feature" -- a feature/profile of someone wrapped inside the report of the athlete's most recent game -- that is different. In that case, byline is appropriate, but no dateline if the site of the game wasn't local.

You nailed this perfectly.

 

[stix]

Byline if you did your own reporting (i.e. called the coach, a player or two) to get quotes and more insight so as to "featurize" your gamer. In that case, you did the work, byline is fine, but no dateline.

If you're just re-written a press release or written a gamer based off stats and play-by-play, then absolutely no byline.