Like how at the end of a report you’ll hear, “Lester Holt, NBC Nightly News, Detroit” or “Wolf Blitzer, CNN News, Atlanta,” or so on. Who started this and when?
Wikipedia doesn’t say who started it but suggests it’s a descendant of the datelines in newspaper articles:
A field reporter might also end his stories by combining the location from where he filed the report with a “lockout” (the last thing a reporter says in the report, and includes his name and station ID, in addition to a news branding such as Eyewitness News ); especially if the segment is recorded and not live.
In March1938 Robert Trout used exactly that format to open the first broadcast of the CBS World News Roundup. At the end of their stories, reporters used their name and location, but didn’t repeat that they were with CBS.
My father was a newspaperman. I’ve held his clippings.
Under the title of the article reads his byline:
" by Cartooniverse Dad, Topical Writer "
…followed by the info at the head of the article:
" Houston, Texas" or somesuch area. The top of the article defined the writer, his title and the location of his filing. This was in the 1950’s and 60s.
I think you used to hear this more often than now. Blitzer just throws the program to whoever’s next up. He may say his name, but not CNN News, Atlanta. And he broadcasts from Washington these days.
If you’re referring to individual segments by reporters, I hear it even less. On the nightly network news programs, e.g., the anchor mentions the name of the reporter at the beginning along with, usually, the location. The reporter just reports. Endings vary. They may say their name or back to you Lester/David/Norah or just end with a declarative sentence.
The practice certainly dates back to radio, though in somewhat different form:
[Edward R.] Murrow’s reports, especially during the Blitz, began with what became his signature opening, “This is London,” delivered with his vocal emphasis on the word this, followed by the hint of a pause before the rest of the phrase. His former speech teacher, Ida Lou Anderson, suggested the opening as a more concise alternative to the one he had inherited from his predecessor at CBS Europe, César Saerchinger: “Hello, America. This is London calling.” Murrow’s phrase became synonymous with the newscaster and his network.
Why “calling”?
They were “introduced by analyst H. V. Kaltenborn in New York saying, ‘Calling Ed Murrow … come in Ed Murrow.’”, i.e. coming in over shortwave radio.
Reporters used to be anonymous before WWII. Newspaper articles didn’t have names attached and radio reporters may have said the station letters but not their names. Only columnists and a few standouts got bylines. Then the glory boys at CBS changed things. Print war reporters insisted on bylines in exchange for the risks they took. Still, it was decades before Time or Newsweek credited reporters. The Economist still doesn’t.
Since none of us can offer an exact answer, I’m going to venture into WAG territory.
I’ve found network news broadcasts of Franklin Roosevelt’s death where reporters were specifically identified as being NBC or CBS news reporters, while other broadcasts used terms like “a press association reports.”
In World War 2, the newspapers and radio people had their own group of correspondents, but they also collaborated by using “pool” correspondents, whose stories would be shared by multiple.t news organizations. I can imagine at some point, the newspapers and networks wanted to differentiate their exclusive reporting from the pool reporting, and so their people used the byline “Joe Smith, CBS News, Paris” while a pool report would be identified, “Joe Smith, Paris.”