The article discusses how place names are deeply political and often signify shifts in power, as seen in historical examples like Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City. It highlights how governmental name changes can reshape national identity while media language choices dictate narrative framing. A modern example is the Gulf of Mexico being renamed the Gulf of America by Trump, leading to debates within news organizations about using this new name, reflecting broader tensions between politics and media representation.
"Authoritarians especially love to change the names of places, seeing it as a tool for constructing new notions of national identity and promoting certain historical narratives while denying, suppressing, or erasing others."
"Language choices can either lend legitimacy or withhold it. So it's not surprising that the tension between these two forces - a government changing a familiar place name and journalists deciding whether to go along - has become a political flashpoint."
"On Inauguration Day, Donald Trump signed an executive order 'restoring' a name it had never before had, the Gulf of America."
"Now it's up to individual news organizations to decide the name they'll use. Just as with the platform formerly known as Twitter, publishers make the decision based on political implications."
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