Newspaper publisher and ostensible online media company Tronc has acknowledged how silly its name is and will be changing it back to Tribune Publishing, according to a report from the New York Post. The name change took place back in 2016 as part of a broad rebranding of the Chicago-based business, which at the time was grappling with its outdated business model, lackluster public image, and its inability to adapt to a media landscape increasingly less dependent on traditional newspaper publishing. The change was also a way for Tronc to differentiate itself from the Tribune Media company from which it was spun off.
The Tronc name was widely ridiculed at the time as an out-of-touch way to modernize the look and feel of a company partly responsible for the waning relevance and resource depletion of the country’s major daily newspapers. In reverting the name back to Tribune Publishing, it seems Tronc executives are acknowledging the value in a name that, as The Verge’s Casey Newton wrote two years ago, does not sound like “a millennial falling down the stairs.” (Also, now that Tribune Media is in the process of merging with Sinclair Broadcasting Group, it seems that the Tribune name is back up for grabs.)
The decision to change the name was reportedly made more than a month ago. But Tronc leadership has been waiting to announce it until after the sale of The Los Angeles Times, San Diego Union-Tribune, and other California-based newspapers to billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and his investment firm Nant Capital. Back in February, when the sale was first announced, Soon-Shiong was the second largest shareholder in Tronc after ex-chairman Michael Ferro, who originally advocated for the name change.
Ferro stepped down from his Tronc role in March just hours before sexual harassment allegations against him were published in Fortune magazine. (He’s now trying to sell his 26 percent stake in the company.) Today, as the LA Times deal closed, Soon-Shiong called the name “silly” and told a reporter for the paper, “I hope that I can convince the board to drop the name Tronc,” adding that the legacy of the company “needs to be respected.”
In celebration of the death of Tronc, let us remember this glorious graphic from an internal video the company made two years ago to inform employees about its new mission as a “content curation and monetization engine.” It’s the part where Tronc executives tried to explain how artificial intelligence would revolutionize the age-old practice of fact gathering and true telling:
Comments
Such a stupid name, I could never take it seriously. Tribune Publishing is much much much better.
By WilliamTM on 06.18.18 4:55pm
and
I think you mean months of ridicule?
By Jonners88 on 06.18.18 4:55pm
24 months?
By lunarworks on 06.18.18 5:28pm
It’s technically not wrong to say ‘years’, and ‘months’ feels too short. You could accurately say "after two years of ridicule", but the truth is that most of us ridiculed it for a few day after the announcement, and then promptly forgot about it until today..
While they’re at it, they should convince LG to drop the "ThinQ" branding, which I always read as "Thin-Q" instead of "Think".
By Scatterthought on 06.18.18 6:18pm
I remember a Verge article a while back where LG reps said it’s actually pronounced "thank"; but I don’t know if that was supposed to be a joke or not.
By iAmDeathTheKid on 06.19.18 10:15am
If it wasn’t for this stupid name change, then we would have never gotten what I think is the funniest joke from LWT: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bq2_wSsDwkQ&feature=youtu.be&t=10m7s
By MysteryMii on 06.18.18 4:57pm
Now if only the Bank of Montreal in Canada would do this same thing. That’s a fine sounding name "the Bank of Montreal", but because their initials are BM, they added an O for BMO and now they call it "BeeMoe".
I refuse to do business with any company called "BEEMOE". Someone aught to fire the guy who came up with that.
By Mergatroid Mania on 06.18.18 6:35pm
It originated as "Montreal Bank" in 1817 before it became "Bank of Montreal" and started trading publicly in 1822. It was always shorthanded as BMO (B for Bank, "MO" for Montreal")… so "bee-moe" re-emphasizes the separation between the letters B and MO.
It’s also the oldest incorporated bank in Canada. If you refuse to do business with such a company, then it speaks more about your personal feelings to someone’s name rather than the rich Canadian heritage the bank is associated with. How very un-Canadian of you (if you are Canadian… cuz through BMO Harris Bank, it’s also the first Canada+USA multinational operating bank… so maybe you’re American.)
By nadass on 06.19.18 12:14am
Good font though
By afaintglow on 06.18.18 7:03pm
I’m pretty sure you meant to refer to the San Diego Union-Tronc.
By Simon Taverner on 06.18.18 8:39pm
By iAmDeathTheKid on 06.19.18 10:17am
Tronc tronc
By ShakenAndStirred on 06.19.18 12:44pm