Here’s the official answer from most style guides: Yes, you italicize the full name of a newspaper. That means The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal all get the slanty treatment.
Why? Because a newspaper is a standalone publication, like a book or a movie title. You wouldn’t write Harry Potter without italics, so why treat the Times differently?
But here’s the kicker: the exception. The Associated Press (AP Stylebook) says don’t italicize newspaper names. They want The New York Times in plain, boring roman type. Chaos! Anarchy in the copy desk!
A Quirky History Lesson (With a Dash of Snobbery)
Italics were invented in the 1500s by an Italian printer named Aldus Manutius. He wanted a font that looked like elegant handwriting. Fast-forward 500 years, and we’re still arguing about whether his fancy letters should touch a newspaper’s name.
The real reason style guides push italics? Clarity. When you write “I read the New York Times yesterday,” a reader might think you read a generic “new york times” like a horoscope. Italics scream: “This is a proper title, you magnificent reader!”
Fun fact: The Times itself doesn’t always italicize its own name. In their own articles, they write The New York Times in bold. It’s the journalistic equivalent of a peacock showing off.
