As Smacked By

The smack on "as told to," as laid down by me:

When a person (Subject) tells a story, and it is adapted for publication by a writer (Writer), the byline is generally written, "By Subject, as told to Writer."

When publications say, "as told to," they really mean, "as told by." We are reading a subject’s story as told by a writer. It’s based on what the subject said, but the writer has interpreted it.

If the entire article were a direct quote from Subject to Writer, then we would be reading the story as told to the writer. But in that case the writer would merely be playing the role of transcriptionist, and would deserve no place in the byline.