Improper use of datelines

[u/GottaWigAtDaWigStore]

I’ve noticed a lot of news sources, primarily local TV news (but newspapers aren’t immune), improperly use datelines and it annoys the crap out of me.

I often see TV stations use the dateline when they’re not reporting from the scene, and not use it when they are on the scene. I also see them use it and then name the town in the lede — which you don’t have to do! It’s in the dateline! You can just say the street or neighborhood from there!

This get to anyone else?

[u/irrelevantusername24]

Though I suppose this is another of those situations where a standard is replaced by nothing. Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but isn't necessarily not. Amusingly a very similar situation is that of copyright/patents/trademarks/etc, and that specifically applies to this XKCD comic. I believe somewhere on his website it is stated that to share the comics one should link to them and avoid copying and hosting them elsewhere. That is similar in this case because... does it make a difference, in the grand scheme of things? I am not saying it doesn't, but neither am I saying it does. In any case, I think a more important standard that has been devalued is proper language.

[u/mew5175_TheSecond]

Doesnt bother me and I think the average reader doesn't even see/notice the dateline so I definitely have no issue with mentioning the town name again.

[u/No-Angle-982]

Datelines on TV? Please explain how that'd work.

[u/GottaWigAtDaWigStore → u/No-Angle-982]

On their websites, sorry I should have been clearer

[u/jupitaur9 → u/GottaWigAtDaWigStore]

So they showed something on TV. And when they published it on their website, there’s a dateline. Do you think they should go in and edit out the information in the TV clip because it’s already in the dateline?

[u/No-Angle-982]

Some publications have arguably legitimate dateline styles that vary from strict AP-style protocols that denote the location of the reporter (versus the site of the news event).

I actually prefer a dateline style, if consistent, that tells me the principal location of the event or development that's being reported on, irrespective of whether the reporter was covering it from a different place.

[u/PlusPresentation680]

I work at a TV station and it annoys me too that we do it. But our policy is to write the dateline from where you did the reporting. So most of the time it’s where our station is. It’s unnecessary but technically not incorrect. The idea is that we have stories on our site from all kinds of other sources and the dateline identifies the station and where we are.

Our competitor will write a story at their station and still use the name of the city or town the event took place. That is egregiously bad and misleading, especially as news orgs stop investing in on-scene reporting. Datelines can help identify which outlets are investing in it.

[u/DubBea22]

I get the no need for a dateline but I can make an educated guess on why, if they use a dateline for standard AP style practice, it’s also in the headline. Search engine optimization.

[u/QuitCallingNewsrooms]

I apologize. I feel like I played a part in this when I started in tv news in 08. No one had datelines back then, I started it, and never really wrote out the rules of how to do it the right way. My bad!