Monday, November 2, 2015

What's Black & White & Read All Over??



The title of my post comes from a joke my Mom used to tell.  The first time I heard it--about age 5--I puzzled long into the night about what could be black and white, yet "red" all over.  I was the last one on the planet to guess the answer to her riddle.

When I visit a town I check out the name of their local newspaper.   Lots of newspaper names are colorful and descriptive.  Some are not.  The creative titles are either "one of a kind" or they shed light on the character of the communities they serve.  Would you want to live in the town whose newspaper is titled "The Rustler?"   Mmmm.  You'd best stay out of the street at high noon.  If your paper is called "The Reminder" does that mean your town is dominated by the geriatric crowd?  I can't figure out the Sacramento Bee and Fresno Bee.  Do they mean bee as in bumble bee?  Was the publisher's daughter named Bee?  Or is there a play on words going on here?   ***

I leave you with a list of the plain and mundane, the interesting, and the witty / creative titles of newspapers around the country.

the dull                 the interesting                                    the creative
Times                 Idaho Statesman                                 Cleveland Plain Dealer
Journal               Observer                                             Daily Planet
Sun                     Sounder                                              Vermont Phoenix
Post                    Fresno  Bee                                         Rustler
Tribune              Town Crier                                          Territorial
Chronicle           Brattleboro Reformer                          Reminder
News                  Bugle                                                  Champion
Inquirer              Independent                                        Seattle Post Intelligencer
Globe                 Pioneer                                                Kingman Miner
Gazette               Town Crier                                          Shinbone Star
Herald                Democrat
Press                   Eugene Register Guard
Standard             Watchman
Advertiser           Newhall Signal
Examiner            Oregonian
Dispatch             Ledger
Reporter              Constitution
Mirror                 Commercial
Clarion                Eagle
Citizen                Holyoke Transcript-Telegram
World                  Keene Sentinel



***An alert reader, Susanne from NC, located this article that explains the origin of the name Bee for the newspaper in Sacramento

 

3 comments:

  1. Oh, you made me curious so I found this. Check out De Queen Bee in Arkansas, and the story at the end about the East Germans.

    http://www.sacbee.com/site-services/marketing/scoopy/article2573418.html

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  2. Great research Susanne! I'll add that to my post. I never knew why the Bee but it's clever.

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