News By Any Other Name?

[pzarquon]

Here's a random exercise for the creative thinkers, business pundits, and news junkies of HawaiiThreads. Apologies in advance for the personal indulgence. But hey, the Hawaii Internet Media corner has been a bit quiet anyway!

So, let's say you're into local news. All aspects. Run-of-the-mill headlines, citizen reporting, and the behind-the-scenes of media, too. I think most of us qualify! Let's say you're always obsessing with weird ideas and have yet another... a playground, a sandbox, a something inspired by everything from the Honolulu Advertiser to iLind.net to Hawaii Reporter. Let's say you don't know if it'll be a portal or a blog or a ... whatever -- you just know at this point it's news-ish.

You're looking for a name, then, that says 'news.' But a name that's not Hawaii News, which you're saving for yet another unrealized idea.

I've played around with six news-y names. But I've been staring at them so long, I don't know which might have that... je ne sais quoi any more. None are perfect, of course... I'm constrained also by the requirement that the name be available online and IRL.

So. Please lemme know which name you think you might browse over to (after Ian and Doug and Malia and the other greats). You can pick more than one, if you're undecided. Or, if none of the above... which way would you go?

[helen]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

Would Hawaii Citizen Reporter or Hawaii Citizen Blotter do?

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

dude, yuck. Seriously.

Something more along the lines of "The Fishnet--Get the daily catch!"

[tutusue]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

"The Hawaii Hoku"

[pzarquon]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

"Hawaii Citizen Reporter" is a bit clumsy, and "Citizen" carries a hint of advocacy, which I'm still not sure is in the cards. It also seems derivative of Hawaii Reporter, of course. And "Blotter" is an unattractive word. Which may or may not fit, actually, but...

"The Fishnet" is clever... though I'd think of stockings or seafood first. (Don't get me wrong, one of my favorite online publications is Charley Stough's "Bong Bull," which doesn't sound at all like what it's about!) More to the point... if you haven't noticed, I have a propensity for leading off with "Hawaii." It's a bit of an addiction, frankly!

(I also have HawaiiBase, HawaiiZip, and a few others stashed away, but they don't fit. I recently lost an auction for HawaiiMe, and let me tell you, in retrospect I'm glad I didn't end up having to pay what my last bid was!)

"Hawaii Hoku"? Classy. Says Hawaii to be sure... not sure about news. We all know what "Hoku" means. Not so much the rest of the world.

So I gather from these suggestions that my carefully studied set is somewhat uninspiring? Hmm.

[tutusue]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

[...]"Hawaii Hoku"? Classy. Says Hawaii to be sure... not sure about news. We all know what "Hoku" means. Not so much the rest of the world.[...]

Gosh...never thought of the "classy" tag! It was more a tongue in cheek local take-off on the national tabloid!

[mel]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

I dunno. I think you got a good name with Hawaii News. Direct and to the point. News is news, no matter where it comes from. You don't have to limit it only to Hawaii. After all the Honolulu Star Bulletin or Honolulu Advertiser don't limit themselves to only Honolulu or local coverage. They have the wire services and syndicated writers to cover news from other places. Hawaii Reporter is similar too. They don't only do Hawaii but have writers from other areas reporting on a variety of topics.

Are you thinking about expanding HawaiiNews? Perhaps you can start a HawaiiNews podcast... there we go.... daily audio citizen news.

[scrivener]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

If you're talking about an online thing, Hawaii Vox isn't bad at all. The rest are kind of bland, but they don't SUCK. My guess is that if the content is good, any of these name will start to sound better. I didn't think Hawaii Threads was a very good name either (sorry!), but now I can't imagine what else it might be called.

What about the Hawaii Knot? Or Hawaii Blossom? Or Hawaii Scrivener? Or The Blowhole? The Vent? I know, I suck too.

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

Hawaii Town (or, make trendy and add an "e" on the end)

then you can play with all the Town(ie) riffs....news about Town..around Town...what's happening in Town...

[tutusue]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

[...] Or The Blowhole? The Vent? I know, I suck too.

The Blowhole? I LOVE IT!

[Pua'i Mana'o]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

*pops copious amounts of Tums*

[pzarquon]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

I dunno. I think you got a good name with Hawaii News.

I do too! But my plans for that site are distinctly and perhaps disappointingly mainstream. I did consider expanding the brand to include podcasts and topical blogs, but... ultimately I've segregated that "new media" stuff in my mind. I want to come at it from another direction.

I didn't think Hawaii Threads was a very good name either (sorry!), but now I can't imagine what else it might be called.

No apologies! I was unsure of HawaiiThreads too. At the time I thought I was within weeks of buying a "better" domain name from a squatter. But by the time anything solid materialized, HawaiiThreads felt right. It developed an identity, a "brand" if you must, all its own.

So I agree. I bet if I picked any of the above and made it interesting, it'd stick. As would any of the fun names y'all are coming up with. Anything's possible. I did want to invoke something more universally recognizable as a "news outlet" for Hawaii and, again, available.

Hawaii Town (or, make trendy and add an "e" on the end)

I'd love to have HawaiiTown. But it's not available. And Blaine has AlohaTown.

The Blowhole? I LOVE IT!

Also taken. And like "Fishnet," it comes with all manner of interesting connotations!

[1stwahine]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

HI-TOWN
HON-TOWN
MAHALO TOWN
ALOHA TOWN

[dick]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

One thing I thought of when looking at the sample titles was that most of those monickers already belong to very established hard-copy papers...First papers that came to mind - Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The Star-Ledger, Columbus Dispatch, Philadelphia Inquirer, New Orleans Times-Picayune, .... Vox Amplification....?

I guess what I'm saying is that those feel really hard-copy, old-style Newspaper. Very grand. Big shoes to fill. Are you able to step up to the plate? Live up to those standards? Publish daily? Make it real?

Since this affair smells of purely cobbled online-derived content, somewhat shoestring and vaguely duct-taped together, with no real direction, perhaps something a little less grand and perhaps more "electronic" (for lack of a better term) would be more appropriate?

[pzarquon]

Re: News By Any Other Name?

Very perceptive, Dick. I did start where you'd think I'd start, which was HawaiiVox, believe it or not (currently tied with "none of the above"). Something unusual, fresh, maybe gimmicky.

But as I tossed around and narrowed down ideas, the shift to names that sound staid and established was very deliberate. And if Hawaii Post or Hawaii Free Press or Hawaii Times or Hawaii Review were available, you bet they'd be on the list. Hence the inclusion of Picayune, which is pretty random and, of all things, inspired by Berkeley Breathed as much as the real world!

I suppose you could say invoking such mastheads leaves big shoes to fill. Or it could also be mere whimsy and folly... nemed specifically because it's not what you'd expect.

In any case, I love and appreciate the input. I'm glad some of you thought this exercise was as fun as I did! Even if the consensus is becoming, "Back to the drawing board."