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Dateline

The line at the start of a report naming the place, and sometimes the date, from which the story was filed.

A dateline tells the reader where the news happened and signals that a reporter was there to gather it: BEIRUT, MONDAY, or simply CANBERRA. It sits at the very top of the story, set off from the text, and it once doubled as proof a correspondent had travelled to the scene. Wire services still rely on datelines to show the origin of a report. Do not confuse it with the byline, which names the writer rather than the place.

Related terms

Byline

The line that names the journalist who wrote the story, usually sitting just under the headline.

Correspondent

A reporter who covers a specific field or region, often from a distance, such as a foreign or political correspondent.

Wire service

A news agency that gathers reports and supplies them to many subscribing outlets at once, such as AAP, Reuters or Associated Press.