Saturday, June 9, 2012

Stop it with the N.C., already

Our city has the Panthers, the Bobcats, Bank of America and even the dang Democratic National Convention. And still news readers around the USA have to be reminded that we are Charlotte, N.C.?

Baltimore has fewer people, but you won’t see Baltimore, Md. atop news stories about prize crab-cakes or baseball Orioles.

This dateline bias does not sit well with many Charlotteans, including those of us at the Dish. But now one proud Charlotte transplant is trying to do something about it.

And Jill Santuccio -- owner of PRISM Communications, a Charlotte PR firm -- thinks the upcoming convention could help our cause for a standalone dateline.

To host the DNC, Charlotte beat out St. Louis, Cleveland and Minneapolis. So isn’t it just a little bit INFURIATING that we are the only one in that quartet still saddled to its state ID?

Of the 46 cities that have hosted the Democratic National Convention over the years, former journalist Santuccio discovered, only three needed a state for news readers to locate them -- Atlantic City, N.J. (1964), Kansas City, Mo. (1900), and our neighbor Charleston, S.C. (1860).

The rest of them -- including New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Denver, Atlanta and, yes, Baltimore -- didn’t need no stinkin’ state abbreviation behind their name.

So, Santuccio has written the Associated Press editorial board to make the case for a change in the revered AP Stylebook that dictates which cities get standalone datelines and which don’t.

When Santuccio, now 44, went to journalism school, the professor would give a closed-book quiz on such things. "I’ve always been an AP Stylebook geek," she told us. "I still know the five states that you don’t abbreviate."

Not only does AP follow its stylebook; so do many newspapers. So this is a Big Deal, readers.

Santuccio hasn’t heard back yet from AP, whose reasons for sticking Charlotte with N.C. are so-outta-date. But she’s bringing in reinforcements: We’re talking ex-Observer columnist Tommy Tomlinson.

"Many people used to confuse Charlotte with Charleston, S.C., or Charleston, W.Va., or Charlottesville, Va., but no more," Tommy wrote, "The people who still confuse us with them are people who probably don’t care about the nuances of the AP Stylebook. Or, for that matter, reading."

Santuccio is a Rochester, um, N.Y., native. But she’s been in the Queen City, N.C., for 22 years, and she wants her adopted city to finally get its due, dateline-wise.

"Charlotte has worked really hard to be on the national and international stage," she says. "And getting a standalone dateline would be another sign that we have arrived."

Tim Funk

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I agree! Charlotte can stand on its own. One of the best cities in the Southeast!

Anonymous said...

There are more important things...but, i agree, this nc after charlotte is pretty stupid. Btw, the folks at usatoday never use the nc after charlotte.

Anonymous said...

Since we've grown out of our pants....we should simply be known as Big Charlotte

Anonymous said...

Agreed. Charlotte needs to remove the NC. We are the capital of the Carolinas. The University also needs to ditch the NC. University of Charlotte would be more appropriate.

Anonymous said...

This city and its people are the most insecure. Why do you care? If a hick in Nebraska doesn't know the difference between Charlotte and Charleston, SC.

So the media refers to other cities by their name only. Charlotte has nothing original to offer the world. It has to be like other cities.

Garth Vader said...

Maybe the media will drop the "NC" after this town's newspaper drops its obsessions with Atlanta and with local reality television contestants.

Anonymous said...

Vader, you are correct sir.

Charlotte is obsessed with larger cities and the status that goes along with them.

But Asheville and Charleston trump banktown.

Anonymous said...

HA. Too funny. Don't we have anything else to worry about?

Anonymous said...

"HA. Too funny. Don't we have anything else to worry about?"

Not in a shallow self-absorbed world class city! Welcome to hell!

Anonymous said...

Charlotte,

You are trailer park trash that found a bag of money on the side of the highway and ever since you have been trying to buy your way into class.

Jim Mitchem said...

Interesting. You should read this: http://www.wcnc.com/news/dnc-charlotte-2012/Charlotte-South-Carolina-Welcomes-DNC-139451243.html

Anonymous said...

Late bloomer QC gets no respect because nobody gives a rats azz. Cities are out burbs are in. Way too many bloated urban concrete jungle ghettos gone bellyup who made their mark ages ago long before white flight. Baltimore is a cesspool of crime and filth. Bad comparison but maybe not.

Get over it. The DNC is lib Foxx's folly that will usher his 6 trillion dollar pal out of the WH in Nov anyway. Ballyntyne and others splitting off and 3rd world Detroit closing in fast. Demographics doing a 180 and changing fast.
Down she goes ...

BetweenQueens said...

This is a fair point. However, during my 3 years in Charlotte, I have been annoyed in observing that nearly EVERYTHING which could better position Charlotte on a national stage is in fact branded as "Carolina's" or "North Carolina." For example: it's not the Charlotte Panthers, but the Carolina Panthers. It's not the Charlotte Dance Theatre, but rather the North Carolina Dance Theatre. Not Charlotte Blumenthal - but the North Carolina Blumenthal Performing Arts Center. I can agree with the issue at play, but this has been created by the city leaders who named these assets initially. As a result, whenever I talk to friends anywhere else in the globe, they in fact are envious that I leave on a beach front (yes - all think I am in Charleston SC no matter how many times I try.) While locals may think this matter has been overcome, per my experience, I beg to differ unfortunately.

Anonymous said...

CLT is Charlotte, NC as CHS is Charleston, SC. There's really no confusion there. CHS has historical buildings & class & CLT has "Nascar" (which REALLY takes place In Concord, NC). I miss the City of Queens, but we have a fair share of our own down here in the "Low Country" aka CHS. We just don't have or have hosted the Miss Gay Universe Pagent as CLT has/does. But the drag shows are ok if you're into that or get taken along as sometimes "fag-hag" to shake your money makers on the dance floor! "HOOTIEHOO"!

@Raindawg said...

Hate to say it, but it's still an issue. http://www.pastemagazine.com/rsvp?utm_source=NL&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=120608

Anonymous said...

Remember, Charlotte's the home of the Carolina Panthers.

Which Carolina? Oh, now does it really matter?

Anonymous said...

Its a no brainer than all pro sports teams teams be named for Carolina but everything else for Charlotte.
More pro teams with state than city in America.

i.e.
NFL Minnesota Vikings
NBA Minesota Timberwolves
MLB Minnesota Twins
NHL Minnesota Wild
NBL Minnesota Thunder
NLL Minnesota Swarm
WNBA Minnesota Linx
AWFL Minnesota Vixon
AWFL Minnesota Machine
AWFL Minnesota Lady Slippers
ASSL Minnestoa Stars
WSL Minnesata Lightning
NHL Minnesota N Stars to Dallas
NHL Minnesota Moose to Winnepeg
AFL Minnesota Fighting Pike def
AFL Minnesota Thunder def
AVL Minnesota Monarchs def
NAS Minnesota Raceway Park
NCAA Minnesota Golden Gophers
NRG Minnesota Rollergirls
BAN Minnesota Oval

Anonymous said...

Sorry, but outside of the Southeast and a few of a migration hot spots like upstate New York, few people know much about Charlotte. I've met people from Chicago who confuse our city with Charleston all the time.

Not to start on a different can of worms, but the whole idea of changing UNC Charlotte's name to University of Charlotte is really shortsighted. UNC has a nationally recognized brand that all graduates benefit from. "University of Charlotte" sounds like "University of Phoenix." Changing the name would devalue the degree.

Anonymous said...

You'd think a self-professed "AP Stylebook geek" would know there are eight states that you don't abbreviate, not five.

Anonymous said...

As alltime top geek hick that one should know. Wasnt that trailor park bumpkin fired cleaning Walmart restrooms long ago for extra curricular activity?

David P.McKnight said...

Perhaps Charlotte's most applicable urban parallel is Louisville. People say, "Louisville, Ky.," just as they say, "Charlotte, N.C." Louisville and Charlotte both straddle two states (Kentucky-Indiana, North Carolina-South Carolina). Hence, it is only natural to associate both cities with two states and therefrore to add the abbreviation (Ky./N.C.) to remind people which states these pivotal cities are actually located in.