In a rare positive development, The Hartford Courant is now offering something of an explanation as to who the authors of some of their Sunday pieces might happen to be. Well, sort of.

Following criticism here that the newspaper was knowingly running articles without identifying to the readers the authors’ commercial relationship to the subject being written about, the paper now includes an explanation/disclaimer in its Sunday iTowns section:

“When you see a byline on an article in iTowns, it’s typically the name of the community member, organization or company representative who wrote and submitted the item. (We also post and print briefs and articles written by Courant staff, and those bylines indicate the writer is a staffer.)”

Progress. Sort of. Of course the byline represents the person who wrote the article — that’s what a byline is — it’s the invisible relationship of the by-liner to the subject that’s the issue. And to offer that “typically” an article is from a company representative, etc., skips the question whether an article should be allowed from a company representative, etc. The identification still doesn’t show up with the article itself and it’s up to the reader to make the association based on the disclaimer. Assume it.

Well, it is progress from the time when flacks and hacks could write what they wanted and no one would know that pieces in the newspaper were handouts. Interestingly, then and now, the Courant asks for someone submitting a release to show his/her professional link to that subject. The “author” knows it. The newspaper knows it. Only the reader doesn’t.

But, fair is fair. Before, they published stuff without letting the innocent reader know the rules of the game. Now, they have shared some of the rules. That’s progress and we’ll take it where ever we find it.