Talk:Masthead (American publishing)

"Am deutschen Wesen soll die Welt genesen?"
The fact that German law requires an Impressum does not make a masthead into an impressum. The word "masthead" is very telling, very fine, and will be found as such in English publications, as I just tried with the New York Times and the National Geographic web sites search field. "Impressum" is, I guess, unknown in English editorial use. In my humble opinion we Germans should keep out with our strange laws, which typically vary even by German Bundesland as well. Let someone genuine English or American write about masthead and forget the German idiosynchrasies. (Germans see http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_gefl%C3%BCgelter_Worte/A#Am_deutschen_Wesen_soll_die_Welt_genesen.) --Fritz Jörn (talk) 07:44, 15 January 2011 (UTC)
 * Having stumbled into this issue, I have to agree. I'm not impressed with "Impressum" as a relevant part of this article--and the cited website is a vested-interest commercial operation rather than the sort of reliable source required by Wikipedia. Any thoughts, please, before I strike it out? Cheers, Bjenks (talk) 13:30, 3 August 2012 (UTC)

This article contains factual errors.
The New York Times, although setting many standards in the publishing industry, has failed to do their homework here. They do not know the difference between a masthead and a nameplate. I'm sure it started out as a foolish error on their part and rather than admit to it, they've created a silly new standard. The masthead of a ship is the elaborate bust of an angel or a mermaid that is always located at the very top/front of the vessel. Therefore, it is also the elaborate and stylistic logo at the top/front of a newspaper. A nameplate, however, is the square panel of copper that normally exists on the lower right-hand corner or lower rear of any given building or structure and lists the founders and establishment date of the building along with other pertinent information. Therefore, it stands to reason that the "nameplate" of a newspaper would be the square box to the right-hand side of page 2 that lists such information about a publication. Unfortunately, I cannot find references for this because the New York Times standards are so pervasive as to saturate the internet. They are indeed wrong about their accidental switcheroo though. Sincerely, FloridaSqueezed@gmail.com 76.110.233.130 (talk) 06:51, 25 February 2011 (UTC)
 * I think you are confusing a ship's masthead (the top of a mast, usually carrying a flag or white navigation light) with a decorative figurehead, which is an extension of the prow, and not a mast at all. Cheers, Bjenks (talk) 13:42, 3 August 2012 (UTC)
 * I've never heard of the list of editors, etc., referred to as a nameplate. And to add to the confusion, contrary to the article, the term "masthead" is frequently used in British publishing (I don't know about Antipodean) to refer to that list. I'll see what the OED has to say on the matter. Barnabypage (talk) 12:22, 12 August 2012 (UTC)
 * masthead, n. : Oxford English Dictionary:
 * 2. orig. U.S.
 * a. The title, motto, or similar device, of a newspaper or journal, printed in a conspicuous place, usually at the top of the first page or front cover. Hence in extended use (by metonymy): the publication itself; the rights to such a publication.
 * 1838  Hennepin (Illinois) Jrnl. 22 Dec. 1/1   Many of our Whig friends..were anxious that the Journal should..carry Whig colors at the mast-head.
 * 1923  O. G. Villard Some Newspapers iii. 43   The vision of its purpose..which it now daily carries under its ‘mast-head’ on the editorial page.


 * b. A section in a newspaper or journal (usually on the editorial page or next to the table of contents) giving information relating to the publication, such as the owner's name, a list of the editors, etc.
 * 1934  Webster's New Internat. Dict. Eng. Lang.,   Masthead, the matter printed in every issue of a newspaper or journal, stating the title, ownership, and management, subscription and advertising rates, etc.
 * 1963  R. Lowell Let. 23 Jan. in I. Hamilton Robert Lowell (1982) 304   Lizzie is in a big undertaking and is on the masthead of a new book review.


 * imprint, n. : Oxford English Dictionary:
 * 3.
 * a. The name of the publisher, place of publication, and date, printed in a book, usually at the foot of the title-page (formerly often at the end of the book); also, the name of printer and place of printing, printed at the end of the book, or on the back of the title-page: these are distinguished as the publisher's imprint and printer's imprint.
 * 1790  Brit. Crit. Feb. (T.),   The imprint, as it is called in technical language, ‘E Typographeo Clarendoniano’, or ‘At the Clarendon Press’.
 * 1860  G. A. Sala Lady Chesterfield's Lett. Pref. 3   Many professional critics confine their labours to reviewing the title and imprint of a book.


 * nameplate, n. and adj. : Oxford English Dictionary:
 * A. n.
 * 1.
 * b. spec. A label affixed inside the front cover of a book bearing the name of the owner; a bookplate.
 * 1896  Brit. & Foreign Bible Soc. Rep. 156   Family Bible... With autograph and name-plate.
 * 1934  Econ. Jrnl. 44 349   Several more books ‘bearing the name-plate of Adam Smith or otherwise authenticated as his’ have been reported.


 * 2. N. Amer. The printed masthead of a newspaper or periodical.
 * 1954  M. Noel Villains Galore x. 100   The nameplate,..cutting diagonally across a part of the paper, had a globe showing North America, fluffy clouds, an angel of peace, and innumerable fancy symbols.
 * 1963  Jrnl. Southern Hist. 29 327   Three days later, the newspaper reappeared..with a ‘Grenada, Mississippi’ dateline modifying the ‘Memphis Daily Appeal’ nameplate.
 * -lysdexia 03:53, 20 July 2013 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.64.170.58 (talk)

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