The 125-year-old International Herald Tribune is to be renamed The International New York Times, in one of the first major initiatives undertaken by chief executive Mark Thompson.
The change, which will be introduced in the Autumn, comes after “extensive research” showed there was “substantial potential” to increase the number of international subscribers to the digital editions of The New York Times under the name change.
Publisher the New York Times said the switch reflects its “intention to focus on its core New York Times newspaper and to build its international presence”, and comes shortly after it began exploring the possible sale of The Boston Globe.
Thompson said there was “significant potential to grow the number of New York Times subscribers outside of the United States”, adding: “The digital revolution has turned The New York Times from being a great American newspaper to becoming one of the world’s best-known news providers. We want to exploit that opportunity.”
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Half the International Herald Tribune's staff are based at its Paris headquarters with the remainder spread across bureaux aroudn the world. It is not yet known whether any editorial staff will lose their jobs as a result of the move.
The restructure will see new employees taken on to work on NYTimes.com — currently the combined website of The New York Times and The Herald Tribune — in Europe and Asia.
The International Herald Tribune paper was first launched 125 years ago as the European edition of The New York Herald, and became The New York Herald Tribune, European Edition, in 1935 after a series of ownership changes.
In 1967 it became The International Herald Tribune when the Times and the Washington Post Company invested in the paper after its former publishers went bust.
The Post and Times became co-owners of the paper in 1991 but 12 years later the Times bought out The Post’s share and became sole owner.
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