Chron byline policy: anything goes!

The Chronicle ran an op-ed on air pollution by Jane Dale Owen today.

Unfortunately, the newspaper apparently still has not solved its old problem with bylines.

Here is how Jane Dale Owen is described:

Owen, a Houstonian, is president of Citizens League for Environmental Action Now (CLEAN). She is granddaughter of Robert Lee Blaffer, co-founder of Humble Oil, and the only nonscientist member of the Federation of American Scientists.

While it's understandable that Owen might want to embellish her environmental credentials with something more substantive than her family's affluence, there's just one little problem with the bolded part of that byline: anybody who wants to spend $50 can join the Federation of American Scientists.

While we have not called to verify this, I think it's fairly safe to conclude Owen is NOT the only nonscientist member of the organization (since it counts "scientists and informed citizens" among its 2,000 members).

We've previously noted the Chronicle's policy (or lack of same) on uninformative bylines. Leaving out useful information is one thing, but at the very least, the newspaper should refrain from printing factually incorrect bylines.

Posted by Kevin Whited @ 01/25/05 09:43 PM | Print |

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