We were taken aback by a letter on impressive bond paper from a law firm in New York (with offices in Washington, Los Angeles, Miami and, of course, Paris) alerting us to the risk that Jim Romenesko’s MediaNews could be confused with MediaNews Group, Inc., publisher of The Denver Post, the Los Angeles Daily News and other newspapers.
The gist of the law firm’s concern seems to be that eliminating the space between the words Media and News might prompt the unsophisticated, raffish crowd who tune in to Poynter Online to think it was Dean Singleton in his pajamas pecking away at the keyboard in Romenesko’s Evanston apartment.
For the record (and to appease the folks at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP), it is not Dean Singleton whose work you read on our website. Neither Jim Romenesko nor his MediaNews has any association with MediaNews Group, Inc. (We’re still working on how to say that in French.)
Despite the law firm’s kind suggestion that we resolve this perilous situation by placing an em of space between Media and News, we’ll decline, thanks. But we do owe the ever-alert folks at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP our gratitude for prompting us to do something we might’ve gotten around to eventually — recognizing Romenesko’s singular contribution to journalists and the ways in which his name has become its own brand.
From now on, his blog will be called Romenesko.
Cheers,
Jim Naughton
MediaNews lawyer’s letter to Poynter 11/26/2002
Poynter lawyer’s letter to MediaNews lawyer 12/13/2002
MediaNews lawyer’s letter to Poynter lawyer 1/8/2003
Poynter lawyer’s letter to MediaNews lawyer 1/31/2003
Ending Confusion
More News
How a longtime film critic’s death represents the great dissolve of local film criticism
Bryan VanCampen of The Ithaca Times was an institution in the central New York college town of 32,000. He might have been the last of his kind.
April 18, 2024
Opinion | An NPR editor is now a former NPR editor after his resignation
Uri Berliner, an NPR business editor who wrote a scathing essay about his organization in another publication, no longer works at NPR.
April 18, 2024
No, Stormy Daniels didn’t ‘exonerate’ Donald Trump
The adult film actor denied she had an affair with Trump in a 2018 statement. She has since recanted that statement.
April 18, 2024
Opinion | NPR suspends an editor for his essay blasting … NPR
The firestorm caused by Uri Berliner’s critical essay in The Free Press continues to rage
April 17, 2024
Taylor Swift has not endorsed Joe Biden for president
As of mid-April 2024, Swift has not issued a public endorsement for the 2024 presidential election, despite social posts claiming otherwise
April 17, 2024