YES or no — it is YOU who is going to help us decide.
Do we stick with tradition? Or do we modernise?
At the moment, the idea is just that — an idea. Nothing more than some thoughts on paper. And no decision has been taken. But bosses at The South Wales Evening Post are considering the possibility of a name change.
What to? Well, suggestions include:
The South Wales Post
The Post
The South Wales Evening Post.co.uk
The South Wales Daily Post
The Swansea Bay Post
Post Today
Editor Jonathan Roberts says that these are what he calls " incredibly exciting times'' for regional newspapers. "We continue to produce fantastic daily and weekly newspapers,'' he says.
"And now there's a focus on delivering not only a comprehensive local news service online, but a website that really is a one-stop shop for everything from services, to news, to entertainment.
"The name of our current site — thisissouthwales.co.uk — is going to change.
"So now is the perfect time to consider whether the newspaper — the South Wales Evening Post — should change too. It may well be that it doesn't, but we thought our readers should have the opportunity to share their views.''
What would you like to see happen?
What would you prefer for Wales's most popular and biggest selling newspaper? Maybe you would prefer things to stay just as they are.
It is, after all, your daily newspaper.
So we'd love to hear your thoughts on how we should develop as a business — starting with the most important — the name at the top of the page.Do you think the South Wales Evening Post should change its name?
What name should we adopt if we do change? Let us know below or write to: The Editor, South Wales Evening Post, Adelaide Street, Swansea, SA1 1BN.If it isn't broken... says Post crime reporter Jason Evans.
WHAT'S in a name? I think it means a great deal — it is part of our identity, and we should be proud of it.
For the past 80 years — through good times and through bad — we have been the South Wales Evening Post, a paper that reflects and reports on the wonderful and varied communities we serve, from Carmarthen and Ammanford to Port Talbot; from Ystradgynlais and Abergwynfi to Rhossili, and all points in between.
It is true that the South Wales Evening Post is no longer an evening paper — there are very few such papers these days; the economics just don't add up.
As a result, re-branding is very much in fashion, with papers from Newcastle to Bristol rushing to drop the "Evening" bit from their titles. The Portsmouth Evening News has gone even further and is now simply The News — it's a good paper but where is the passion in that? And what name would we go for? The Post? One post is pretty much like another — ask any fence.
And of course re-branding can go horribly wrong — remember the renaming of the Post Office as Consignia? And does anyone actually call Jif, Cif? Thought not.
Let's not follow the herd and be bland like so many others — let's be who we are.
This is the paper your parents and probably grandparents read — it has been a part of the community for a long time. That kind of history is one of the reasons many people get into journalism — the grandparents of our politics reporter, Helen Keates, read the paper every day for decades, and she often says how proud they would be if they could see her working here now.
A bit emotional? Yes. And so it should be — people should feel emotional about their local paper, because it matters.
We are by far the biggest selling Welsh newspaper, and little wonder — day-in day-out there is virtually no coverage of this part of the world anywhere else, and as a proud Neath boy, I've got more chance of seeing Halley's Comet than a story about my hometown in other papers or on TV.
A traditional name with a traditional masthead in a slightly odd Gothic font? Yes. And I love its quirkiness. But we are very far from living in the past.
These are exciting times to be in journalism, and a great time for anyone with an interest in current affairs with a plethora of papers, magazines, websites, blogs, podcasts, and social media to choose from, and the ability to take photos and videos and share them with the world instantly — and these days our reach is global
Our video of Swansea City boss Michael Laudrup has been seen by more than 152,000 people around the world, from New Zealand to the US and Egypt — and I love the idea that right now, somebody in Auckland, San Francisco or Cairo could be reading the South Wales Evening Post website.
Let's be ourselves and shout about it — we are the South Wales Evening Post, and long may that continue.It's time for a change... says Post features editor Peter Slee.
KNOCK knock! Who's there? Deja. Deja who?
Well, actually, for the past 81 years, it's been The South Wales Evening Post.
And before that, the South Wales Daily Post and before that the Cambria Daily Leader.
You see, nothing ever quite stays the same, does it!
But what a delight ...here I am, the paper's longest-serving employee, invited to say why, after more than eight long decades, we should consider changing our name. An unenviable job giving the tradition and huge stature of the name I have proudly worked for so many years? Not at all.
For surely, the time for change is now here. A name of Ben Nevis proportions it might be, but let's at least embrace the notion. This is a debate about the future rather than the past.
Yes, we are the biggest selling newspaper in Wales by a country mile. But we now need to broaden and embrace our achievements both in the written word and online where so much of our work is these days concentrated.
Change is inevitable — who can complain about a mobile phone or a computer?
Our staff are brimming with enthusiasm for the trade — committed to print and the web, but also to the business of good writing and brave journalism.
The Post today is different — only three editions compared with the six I can once remember and it is published at breakfast time. But its sales are still good and it has a great and expanding website for breaking news.
It is a paper that still covers the region with gusto — its burghers and people, its crime and its football — but the shift is web-wards.
The name change proposals recognise that the business of journalism has changed and that we now also need to change our name to better reflect our members, our industry and our craft. We are all way beyond ink on paper, and so the name carried across the front of your favourite local paper each day surely needs to reflect that and help lead us to a new and robust future.
The Post serves the Swansea Bay region superbly well. It tells you what you want to know about where you live, work and play. It's an incredibly strong brand that's relevant and available all day, with a rapidly-growing website tackling breaking news as it happens. We bring you exclusive, fresh content that sets the agenda for others to follow. Our job is to keep on informing and entertaining our readers every day — just like we've been doing in one guise or another ever since 1861.
But its online service is also gaining in popularity each day because of the huge level of added value it brings with it. A five-minute clip of Swans boss Michael Laudrup kicking a ball around in a soccer friendly in the city last week attracted a bumper crop of 140,000 hits from, readers across the world and in countries as diverse as Thailand and the US to Denmark and Japan.
Who would have thought that possible just, say, three or four years ago?
So surely, at the very least, our masthead name in 2013 and beyond needs to incorporate the words 'co.uk' into it?
Then there's the other big anomaly. We've been printing early in the morning for a few years now and many readers have asked why we don't just lose the word 'Evening' from the masthead.
With all the extra investment in our content, now seems the perfect time to make that step.
First it was Opal Fruits to Starburst, then Oil of Ulay to Olay, then Jif to Cif!
Even a chocolate Marathon bar became Snickers.
I'll take it on the chin if I am wrong.
But a modern local paper such as the Post needs to reflect its ever-changing positioning.
We need to move with the times and more accurately reflect who we are and what we do.
There's a paper in California in the US called the Bullfrog Miner, another in Massachusetts called the Carlisle Mosquito. Closer to home The Arran Banner in the Scottish Isles is the only newspaper named after a potato. And the Falmouth Packet in Cornwall gets its name from the fast mail-carrying sailing ships which used to arrive in its ports.
And finally, it's not always the name that's different . . .
A paper with an ordinary name but a lovely slogan is the Charlottetown Guardian from Prince Edward Island. Its slogan says it "covers Prince Edward Island like the dew."
And, no, I am certainly not suggesting quite as nonsensical as that. Promise!
