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Standard practice for The Economist. Really hurts accountability...
by theseatoms 11y ago
Standard practice for The Economist. Really hurts accountability...
- manachar 11y agoAlso prevents ad hominem attacks and can allow informed authors to speak without fear of retribution. The Economist has a pretty decent track record and clearly wants the company to take on the accountability of what's published.
- ghaff 11y agoThe idea is that the accountability is at the level of the magazine, not the individual author. It's not the norm today (outside of many newspaper editorials) but doesn't mean there's an inherent problem with it. I'd also observe that, in many/most cases, when organizations like analyst firms put out reports they're widely viewed as the opinion of the firm even if they're bylined. Which isn't unreasonable given that they're presumably peer-reviewed. In general, bylines have become standard practice because writers, etc. want it. Not because publications and other content producers prefer it that way.