Article before newspaper name

Question

Suppose the name of a newspaper is Pirate Times, without an article. Which of the following is then correct, and why?

• During the recent General Assembly, Pirate Times met…
• During the recent General Assembly, the Pirate Times met…

Is there a general rule for the use of articles before newspaper name?

Answer 1

House style prevails. How does the organization refer to itself? Do they provide identity guidelines for third party media? Nearly all newspapers take the, but there are as many exceptions as there are rules when it comes to applying articles to named entities.

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Certainly, if it is part of the official name, it would always be included except where attributive: The New York Times, The Telegraph; but New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman and Telegraph motorcycle correspondent Kevin Ash.

In other cases, the article is not part of the official name, but it gets attached idiomatically: She writes for the Chicago Tribune, I subscribe to the South China Morning Post. Perhaps this is because many publication names are based around a common noun, and we naturally add the to most such names: The Wall Street Journal, not merely any Wall Street journal, same as the Royal Society, the University of Virginia, the Brisbane Lions, or the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Newspaper names not based on this formula (the Foo Newspapertype) do not accept articles: Barron's, never the Barron's, as with Roll Call, USA Today, Stars and Stripes, and so on.

But then there's Sporting News, never the Sporting News, because that is their house style. And JAMA is always simply JAMA, even though the full, official name is JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

See also

• Use of definite article before phrases like Heathrow Airport, Hyde Park, Waterloo Station, Edgware Road and Parliament Square
• Definite article before schools, colleges, and universities
• What are the rules of capitalization and article usage with building names?
• Use of article in front of product names
• Using the definite article before a country/state name

Answer 2

I would go for option A. It's the same rule as a company name. "..the Nike released a new running shoe" doesn't sound correct. If the newspaper is called "The Pirate Times", then obviously the second option is correct.

Answer 3

Only when the definite article the is the part of the newspaper title, must you use it.

For example, in India there are many English newspapers with the as part of their names:

• The Hindu
• The Indian Express
• The Times of India

If no the comes before the name of a newspaper, there is no need to add it.

In Kerala, a state of India, there are many Malayalam newspapers none of which has a leading the in its name:

• Malayala Manorama
• Mathrubhumi
• Madhyamam

For example:

• I regularly read The Hindu to improve my English.

• Are you a regular reader of Malayala Manorama?

Answer 4

Let us change the name in your question:

Suppose the name of a newspaper person is Pirate Times John, without an article. Which of the following is then correct, and why?

During the recent General Assembly, John met…

During the recent General Assembly, the John met…