It’s a curiosity of the NAPA news agency awards that often the byline on the big screen does not match the name of journalist collecting the trophy.
That’s because (for all Press Gazette’s complaints about this issue over many years) agency reporters rarely get the credit in print for their hard work.
Sometimes the staffer involved will have done little more than re-nose the copy and tweak it for house style (while the agency journalist did all the shoe leather journalism to bring it in).
To be fair to the staffers, the decision of who gets the byline is not theirs to make but lies with senior editorial staff.
Here are some of the stories shortlisted in the NAPA awards where the bylines did not tell the whole story about who the stories were by.
The Sun – M25 Killer Going Nowhere
Original author: Adam Gillham of Ferrari Press Agency
Byline: Steve Hawkes
The Mail on Sunday – Devastated in an Instant, the Blameless Victims of UK’s Acid Attack Epidemic
Original author: Harriet Rose-Gale for SWNS
Byline: Olga Craig
The Sun – We Live in a Ford Focus
Original author: Amy Sharpe of Talk To The Press
Byline: Ruth Harrison
The Sun – Killed by Her Kindness
Original author: Laura Elvin of SWNS
Byline: Alex West
The Sun – Parents Joy at Hols in Term Time Victory
Original author: Steven Walter of Solent News
Byline: Louie Smith
Daily Star – From Student Babe to Heroine Hooker
Original author: Lauren Brown of Cavendish Press
Byline: Jerry Lawton
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