Why a newspaper decided to change its name:
In what seems like another sign of our troubled political times, the Fauquier Times-Democrat is deleting “Democrat” from its name after 108 years. The Warrenton paper found that having the term in the title gave the wrong impression in deeply Republican Fauquier County — the paper is neither Democratic nor Republican — and there’s no need to offend anyone because of a meaningless name, particularly the way newspapers are faring these days. Offending people with reporting and editorializing, now that’s what we’re here for.
[. . .]
Executive Editor Bill Walsh wrote this in yesterday’s inaugural Fauquier Times: “But in an age which is, perhaps, more shaped and informed by political identity than any other in our history, having a word in our banner that is so associated with a political party is no longer a very astute business decision. The same could be said if, for the last 24-plus years, we had been the Fauquier Times-Republican.”
Yes, I'm tempted to gloat a little, but he's right that a smart editor would make the same decision if Republican had been in the name. I'm not sure about the "troubled political times" part. Yes, we're deeply divided along partisan lines, but that's always been a part of our political reality as a country. I think that division is merely being highlighted because of the intense and unapologetic partisanship of oline forums and journals -- the blogs are the new penny press. Maybe I should change the name of this blog to the Howling Wingnut Chronicle.
