By Deepal Trevedie

         Every journalist today is in a frenzy to get noticed. Bylines enjoyed respectability and credibility. The common refrain a decade ago was "don't make your bylines cheap". A small grammatical error that went into with your byline story was considered a major embarrassment. Now bylines have become a too common a thing. There is no thrill left in getting bylines.
Anyways this isn't about bylines. It's about what gets printed in stories with bylines and without bylines.
In 90's I recall the in house on the job tutorials at the Indian Express by our boss Yogesh Sharma. Now down the line when we open the papers on a daily basis and scan through the reports, the badly written and equally badly edited, you realize the importance of what Sharmaji rigorously taught.
For instance, recently  Thakor and Waghela were names so much in news. A number of reporters in various publications, in their byline reports inadvertently mentioned Thakor as Thakore. The difference between a Thakor and a Thakore is like chalk and cheese. Ditto with Parekh and Parikh. Amit Thaker when he becomes Amit Thakker, a lot of things change.Ditto when Sinh becomes Singh.
 
Reporters need to be sensitive about names, surnames and the sociological aspects that get altered when you write Thakor instead of Thakore. I remember an ex advocate general,a Thakore,  refusing  meeting up  with a journo because he found him too "irresponsible" with surnames.
A name is a basic aspect of every story. If there is an error in the name, what about factual errors in the story elsewhere? Your credibility goes for a toss when you misspell names and especially surnames.  
Shakespeare might have said what's in a name but in journalism, there is LOTS in a surname. 

 

(Deepal Trevedie is group editor of Sambhav Media Ltd and also Senior Associate Editor of Asian Age. Who else can better understand the importance of spelling? Deepal trivedi of 1990s is now Deepal Trevedie!!!!)