Oh, you thought we were done? No, no, no. The article “The” in The New York Times is a whole sub-debate. Should you italicize “The” as part of the title?
Yes! If you’re writing the full, official name, The gets italicized too. Why? Because the newspaper’s legal name includes the capital T. Drop “The” and you’re talking about a generic concept, not the actual paper.
But here’s a party trick: if you’re referring to the paper generically (“She works for the New York Times,” not “She works for The New York Times”), you can lower-case the “the” and skip italics. It’s a tiny nuance that only copy editors will notice—but they’ll appreciate you for it.
PPT - Italics , Underlining, and Quotation Marks Bellwork (Guided notes
When to Break the Rules (And Do It With a Smile)
You’re writing a tweet. Or a text to a friend. Or a meme. Italicizing the whole name is a pain on a phone keyboard. So just write The New York Times in bold or plain. No one will arrest you.
In fact, many modern websites—including the Times own site—use bold for newspaper names instead of italics. It feels punchier. More confident. Like the paper is shouting, “I’m important!”
The quirky truth? English style is a suggestion box, not a prison. The Chicago Manual of Style says yes. AP says no. The Times does its own thing. You get to choose your own adventure.
