Times' Name Change: How Do You Feel?

A new chapter for the St. Petersburg Times began Sunday when the paper officially changed its name to the Tampa Bay Times. 

The decision was announced on Nov. 1, 2011, that after more than a hundred years, the Times would be changing its name. 

According to the paper, it says a majority if its audience is outside of St. Petersburg and the name change reflects that. It said the name change was inevitable and a sign of success

"For decades, the Times has been reaching north and east from St. Petersburg. Nearly 25 years ago, we launched our Tampa edition ... With that success, our name no longer fit the newspaper or the audience we serve. Three-fourths of Times readers live outside St. Petersburg."

Bill Mitchell, a faculty member of the nonprofit Poynter Institute, which owns the St. Petersburg Times, that he sees the decision as a smart move.

"Cities need to think regionally. News organizations need to move beyond old ways of framing their audiences," he said, describing the change as an "innovation worthy of the guy whose name remains attached the school he set up to own his paper."

In an editorial on Sunday, the Times said:

"While our name is new, we carry forward the core values and journalistic standards established over more than a century as the St. Petersburg Times. Nelson Poynter, the last individual to own the Times, regarded responsibility for a news organization as a 'sacred trust.'"

St. Petersburg, we want to hear from you. Do you agree with the name change? Is it a smart business move? Inevitable?