For one, the Dan Rather affair is a long time ago now. It’s getting increasingly complicated (and distracting) to explain our name, so that people realize we’re a media company, not a sleepwear outfit flogging Valentine’s Day gifts.
More seriously, choosing a kooky Internet name like Pajamas worked for a time, but we are part of the larger media. We rely on credibility for our opinions and reporting and can no longer afford the luxury of our name being too casual and jocular.
Indeed we have received pushback on the name over the years, pushback that has allowed our ideological opponents to dismiss us or to deny us press credentials often granted other media companies with less reach. Alas, we need a certain amount of gravitas — although not too much, we hope.
Looking to the future, this name change — or, more properly, name evolution — is another way to say that we are here to stay. The stake in the ground that was planted as Pajamas Media has now been hammered in permanently as PJ Media.
