The author search operator is history on Google News

If you try to use the Author: search operator on Google News, you are in for a disappointing surprise. It's gone.

You can no longer search Google News for specific authors. It's not that Google hates authors or it is trying to eradicate a sense of authorship from the planet. Instead, Google's actions reflect it's push to support the the rel=author movement--the "author" tag. Example below:

Written by <a rel="author" href="../authors/ironpaper">Ironpaper</a>

The new rel=author capabilities will offer new ways of working with and structuring authorship data. For example, Google will be able to include author data within it's new social network. The only problem is the rel tag needs to be in wider practice for it to be useful.