BY Norman Rozeff
What’s in a name? That question we may ask of newspaper names across our nation. Their names reflect a wide range of attributes ranging from patriotic to utilitarian to plainly unique. Wikipedia indicates that in 2014, the United States had 1,331 daily newspapers.
If we start with a patriotic theme we find such entities as The Eagle of Bryan-College Station, Texas and the Reading Eagle in Pennsylvania along with those in Butler, Pa., northern New York state, Pittsfield, Massachusetts, Plymouth, Michigan, Canton, Ohio, Clifton, New Jersey, and Windham, Maine among still more.
Obviously Eagle is a much sought after name. Republic newspapers are to be found in Columbus, Ohio and Phoenix, Arizona.
Also reflecting patriotism are the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, together with a number of papers taking in their the names the words statesman, citizen, free press, republic, commonwealth, and, independent.
While the moniker Eagle suggests patriotism, utilitarian names for newspapers are widespread. In this category we find the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Portland (Me.) Press Herald, New York Times and the Los Angeles Times, Boston Herald and Fall River Herald in Massachusetts, the Detroit Free Press, San Antonio Express, The Spokeman-Review of Spokane, Seattle’s Post-Intelligencer, Dallas Morning News, Tampa Tribune, Fort Lauderdale Sun Sentinel, and numerous Dailies and Banner papers across the nation.
The Advocate name is utilized in the newspapers of Newark, Ohio, Victoria, Texas, Stamford Ct., and Baton Rouge, La. There are also a number of Gazettes, Couriers, and Reviews. Widely circulated newspapers with practical names include The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, New York Daily News, Chicago Sun-Times, The Denver Post, Houston Chronicle, Orange County Register, The Star Ledger of Newark NJ, The Plain Dealer of Cleveland, and the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Then there are papers with unique labels. These include the newspapers of Bullhead City and Modesto,
Arizona named The Bee as well as Arizona’s The Beehive. Likely no newspaper in the world can match New Orlean’s Picayune for uniqueness. This word means petty, worthless. The expression likely derives from a small old Spanish coin of a half real with a low monetary value.
Perhaps with a touch of self-promotion the paper in Council Bluffs, Iowa calls itself the Council Bluffs Nonpareil. Another Iowa newspaper’s name reflects its efforts to discern all the news in the making. Published in Burlington, it is called The Hawk Eye. The Mercury News of San Jose, Ca. is an indication of speed as reflected by the Greek god Mercury. Numerous Suns are in existence and likely reflect an early morning circulation.
The name Boston Globe is indicative of an effort to cover news of worldwide interest. The name Comet likely signifies the paper’s efforts to be a bright celestial presence for its readership. In New Mexico one paper’s name is the Deming Headlight. Its reporters apparently are on the lookout for transgressors. Ohio has three unique newspaper names in Canton’s The Repository,
Youngstown’s The Vindicator, and Toledo’s The Blade. Grand Ronde, Oregon reflects its area’s Native American ties with the name Smoke Signals. South Dakotans can expect their unvarnished news in several papers named Straight Talk. Alliteration finds its Texas community home with the Alpine Avalanche. For people wanting to get intimate with their surroundings the Baileys Harbor,Wisconsin paper calls itself the Peninsula Pulse.
Commonly used words used in newspaper titles across the country are access, advocate, beacon, bulletin, chronicle,clarion, courier, current, democrat, dispatch, enquirer, enterprise, examiner, exponent, express, gazette, guardian, informer, leader, mail, messenger, mirror, observer, outlook, outpost, packet, pilot, plainsman, record, recorder, register, republican, roundup, spectator, standard, telegram, telescope, transcript, voice, and watchman.
Local newspapers carry the prosaic names Brownsville Tribune, McAllen Monitor, Valley Morning Star, Mid-Valley Town Crier, Mercedes Enterprise, The Progress Times (Mission), El Nuevo Heraldo, Raymondville Chronicle, Valley Town Crier, The Edinburg Review, El Periodico, El Extra (McAllen), Mega Doctor News ( McAllen), Texas Border Business (McAllen), Island Breeze (South Padre Island), and the Coastal Current.
The former was renamed from the Daily Cosmopolitan when Jesse O. Wheeler purchased it in 1892. It was in 1875 that W.S. Dougherty had established The Daily Cosmopolitan, a newspaper devoted to the trade interest of this section and the welfare of the Rio Grande country.
The Valley Morning Star had its start in 1909 when M. M. Osborn first published it as the Harlingen Star. Lower Rio Grande Valley newspapers which no longer exist include The Daily Sentinel published in Brownsville, and edited for a time by Rip Ford, Hidalgo Advance, Hidalgo County News, Mercedes News, later the Mercedes News Tribune, Mission Times, The Republic of the Rio Grande and the People’s Friend (during General Taylor’s occupation in Matamoros), American Flag (ca. 1847), Rio Bravo (to support Carvajal’s ideas), Rio Grande Courier (1860s), and El Comercio (a Harlingen Spanish language paper of the 1920s).
