I don’t think I ever remember a time when there were journalists who garnered respect directly from the byline. By that, I mean people would read an article and say “Oh, that’s by Ms X, it must be good”. Most trustworthiness and prestige was held by the publication, not the individuals. Some organisations, such as The Economist, don’t even have bylines, although rumour has it that you can guess who write what quite easily (I’m not too sure).
There are, however, two holdouts though. Fabrizio Romano and David Ornstein are either two people you have never heard of, or you refresh their feed every 20 minutes. It really is one or the other.
If you’re in the former category, messrs Romano and Ornstein are football journalists who specialise in transfers. Through connections, dark arts, and a bit of luck, they are the ones that people seem to trust to break the news.
There are plenty of people in this space, ranging from BBC pundits to internet anons. Everyone knows that salacious stories such as “Will Ronaldo go to Auckland City this summer?” (the answer is, unsurprisingly, no) will generate clicks. But only a few are trustworthy, and that is a reputation to hold on to for dear life. Once gone, it’s never coming back, and when you have it, there is a virtuous cycle.
Leave a Reply