The new glyph-driven name, to be pronounced “hyphen” or “The News Organization Formerly Known As The New York Times,” connects the company to its rich, 172-year-long history — in particular, the period from 1851 to 1896 in which it displayed its name as “The New-York Times.”
“Adolph S. Ochs was a wonderful owner of this proud institution, but I can’t help but feel he made a terrible mistake when eliminating the hyphen from the name of The New-York Times,” said New York Times Co. CEO Meredith Kopit Levien. (The newspaper’s corporate parent will retain its old-fashioned name until Q4 2023, when the New York Stock Exchange is expected to upgrade its trading technology to allow it to trade under the symbol ---.)
“What’s most exciting about – is that it literally puts our news organization right in the middle of all sorts of discussions,” said – executive editor Joseph F. Kahn. “Are you worried about the struggles of white-collar workers? Far-right movements? Fast-improving AI technology? The Barbenheimer box-office phenomenon? No matter what, we at – are right there in the thick of it.”
While executives admit considering the longer en dash (–) or em dash (—), Mr. Kahn cited brevity as a core principle of journalism. He called the longer options “verbose and border-line prolix. See, there we are again — ‘border-line’! I’m telling you, this is just what our little-known news outlet needs to achieve some sort of wider recognition.”
Nine people with knowledge of the matter, speaking on the condition of anonymity in order to describe private discussions, said the common online practice of using two hyphens in place of an em dash is “just a total bonus.”