International Herald Tribune Says Adieu

The New York Times announced today that it planned to "rename" The International Herald Tribune this fall. The 125-year-old newspaper will still be published, although under altered circumstances and with far less glamour than when the Trib was in its heyday.

The headline for the Times' story on this development included the word "rechristened." Heaven help us all. Instead of calling a spade a spade, the Times' spokespeople offered dissembling statements and marketing jargon. The low point was when the Times ran a correction on its own story, in which an assertion that the "rechristened" publication would offer a "new website" was recharacterized as a website with "a new design." Inquiring minds may wonder what the distinction between the two categorizations is. Meanwhile, considering the Times intends to have a new masthead for this reborn international newspaper, a "new design" appears to understate the dimension of change.

Art Buchwald
(photo: LA Times)

For many Americans who lived or currently reside overseas, the Trib's farewell is a melancholy event. When I lived in Italy, I read the Trib for better or worse. A number of its editorial choices did not sit well with me, and at times I thought the paper misrepresented controversial European political and social issues. Nonetheless, the International Herald Tribune's legacy provided an irresistible cachet for its content. Its Parisian roots connoted a Continental sophistication that one lived in Europe to embrace. Its journalists included excellent writers, such as food specialist Patricia Wells and the late Art Buchwald. The Trib's so-called "rebranding" not only marks the end of an era, but a loss of sensibility for which few substitutes exist.

Journalism has changed greatly since the Trib's glory days. It is unlikely a "rebranded" newspaper will bring them back. That gloire will come from some other direction, and from fresh voices.