Name That News

One of the first things I do when ever I visit a new town is purchase a local news paper. Most of my travel is for speaking engagements and it is nice to look at the snapshot the local paper offers me on the local issues and things that I just don’t see living in Astoria.

I also find it interesting what local papers are named. I am somewhat put off by names like The Astorian or The Oregonian because their name comes with the implication that they are the voice of their residents, when in fact their editorial and corporate philosophy have little to do with what the residents actually believe and desire. Though all news papers are pulpits for their publishers and editors, sometimes you can tell their direction from their names. Here’s a list of some I’ve come across:

The Record, The Call, The Times, The Daily News, The Statesman Journal, The Journal, The Tribune, The Star, The Ledger, The Post, The Herald, The Observer, The Telegraph, The Republican, The Democrat, The Independent, The Signal, The Gazette, The Banner, The Beacon The Messenger, The Planet, The Eagle The Review, The Sentinel, The Union, The Sentry, The Sun, The Daily Mail, The Bugle, or any combination of two or three names above.

There are some that have a different sort of charm to their name like: The Home and Store News, The Sacramento Bee, The Picayune (Which means a coin of little value.), The Intelligencer, the Argus (In Mythology, Argus was giant with 100 eyes, set to guard the heifer Io: his eyes were transferred after his death to the peacock's tail.)

Writing this I am reminded that the names of our Blogs often speak volumes about their authors as well making me feel even better about being Astoria Rust.