Woodworking again: Name change

By Dave Wood
Posted 10/22/24

I’m mad as HELL and I’m not going to take it anymore!

Howard Beale , crazed anchorman in the movie “ Network ”

I’m not quite as bonkers as Peter Finch’s …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Woodworking again: Name change

Posted

I’m mad as HELL and I’m not going to take it anymore!

Howard Beale, crazed anchorman in the movieNetwork

I’m not quite as bonkers as Peter Finch’s portrayal of Beale in that wonderful cinematic sendoff of journalism in the “Network.” But I do have my moments on the brink of madness that send Beautiful Wife wondering if her chosen spouse is a wretched old curmudgeon covered with primordial scales.

Take the growing fad of changing names to fit the current fashion, which drives me close to bedlam.

For me Thrivent Insurance will always be LUTHERAN BROTHERHOOD, Minnesota Symphony Orchestra will always be MINNEAPOLIS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA, Augsburg University will always be AUGSBURG COLLEGE, where I taught and learned that small can be beautiful, and UW-at Menomonie will always be STOUT INSTITUTE.

Sometimes my obsession about these name changes, however, makes some sense in the larger view of the world. For instance, I grew up with The Minneapolis Tribune, delivering it with my brother and even reading it, laughing with columnist Will Jones, grumbling with Sid Hartman and following its costly-to-produce Minnesota Poll, which was sometimes right, sometimes wrong, but always in there slugging.

Eventually I was invited to join its staff, about the closest I would ever get to the fourth estate’s version of Nirvana.

Alas, it was not to be, for I soon discovered newspapers, even the great ones like the Tribune were in deep trouble. As soon as I sat down to a Tribune word processor, the Tribune merged with its sister, The Evening Star, and cool folks began calling it “The Strib.” After which a new owner and a new publisher from out East arrived who tacked on a subtitle, and it became “The Star Tribune: Newspaper of The Twin Cities.” (A crochety old reporter quipped to me “What’s next, ‘Star Tribune Newspaper of the Twin Cities and of the Upper Mississippi Watershed District?’”)

By the time I retired, the Cowles family had sold to a California chain, then to investment bankers and finally to Glenn Taylor, one of Minnesota’s richest men, who promised not to tamper with its moderate editorial policy. Whew! What a relief! Taylor tore down the beautiful art deco building, moved a trimmed-down staff into new digs. And he hired a new brain trust to come up with a plan to save the Tribune for perpetuity.

Guess what? A name change! Yup, it is now called “The Minnesota Star Tribune: The Heart and Voice of the North.” Imagine the old Minneapolis Tribune, whose Bulldog Edition circulated with home delivery as far west as Denver, Colo., and was known as a “kingmaker” (Dwight Eisenhower, Hubert Humphrey) had retreated back home.

And that’s not the end of it. On the heels of the new name, brain trust announced a new policy.  “The Heart and Voice of the North would not be endorsing a candidate for president in this year’s election.” Yes, you read that right. No endorsement. Thank goodness the brain trust has not yet eliminated the op-ed page because the letters to the editor came immediately. Alan Bray of St. Peter wrote “Reading a Star Tribune endorsement should be a welcomed part of each voter’s due diligence…I believe that the [editorial] board should bravely and responsibly make its choice known.”

  1. Martin of Minneapolis made comments that were even more to the point using a parable: “One group of sources tells a major newspaper that it is sunny and pleasant outside. An opposing group insists that dark clouds and a tornado funnel are descending to wreak havoc. In their wisdom, the sages of the newspaper instruct their readers to look out their window to make up their own minds, because we sure don’t want to offend the sunny party or the stormy weather party. So, leaving this parable behind, it seems you, [the editorial board] are having a hard time choosing between democracy and tyranny on Day One. The sheer cowardice of what you are doing—or should I say, not doing—almost takes my breath away.”

I think Martin is right and I’m mad as hell about it and I don’t want to take it anymore: the Minnesota Star Tribune that is.

Woodworking again, Dave Wood, name changes, rebranding, Star Tribune, column