Help me name this organization.

July 3, 2017 4:20 PM

This is an organization founded by a seasoned journalist in a third-world country (where government censorship is alive and well). The venture aims at nurturing and mainstreaming critical investigative journalism.

Preliminary lists included choices like "Vanguard" and "Vantage" but these were too rough sounding, more military-inclined names, and the meaning is not easy to translate to the native tongue. Instead, we prefer something that is simple and meaningful--especially a name that communicates journalism, non-conformity, pacifism, and progressiveness in an institutional/educational sounding way (something that sounds good when you add the word "Institute" after it, as in "The _____ Institute"). The simpler and more unassuming the name, the better the chances are of it flying under the radar when the time comes to registering the agency, but all suggestions are welcome anyway.

posted by omar.a to Writing & Language (9 answers total)

Veritas
posted by Homo neanderthalensis at 4:41 PM on July 3, 2017

The Irrawaddy writes on Burma and South East Asia. I think this name, taken from a major regional river, works because of river connotations and it's a geographical identifier.

Is there a geographical feature in your locale that could work in the same way?
posted by Thella at 4:42 PM on July 3, 2017

Signal (The Signal Institute)

Watchword (The Watchword Institute)
posted by faineant at 4:44 PM on July 3, 2017

Homo neanderthalensis: "Veritas"

This is a good suggestion but also be aware that "Project Veritas" is also the name of James O'Keefe's... err.. thingy.
posted by mhum at 5:07 PM on July 3, 2017

How about W5? The W5 Institute. That could then shorten to W5i which is kinda cool.
posted by pixlboi at 5:31 PM on July 3, 2017

Veritas is played out (32m hits for veritas business on Google), but you could come up with a derivative, for example Vero is Esperanto for Truth.
posted by furtive at 8:36 PM on July 3, 2017

Sunlight.
posted by adamrice at 8:49 PM on July 3, 2017

I came in to say what adamrice already said. Sunlight (the best disinfectant) or failing that, something based on sunshine (like sunshine laws).
posted by The Wrong Kind of Cheese at 9:44 PM on July 3, 2017

Acorn
Aeration
Arena
Arrowroot
Balance
Clear Sky
Correspondent
Dovetail
Fencepost
Flywheel
Fountain
Fresh Air
Freshwater
Gallery
Horizon
Keeper
Kernel
Keystone
Landmark
Lighthouse
Mirador
Monitor
Oasis
Overlook
Panorama
Pillar
Pioneer
Riser
Radicle
Ripple
Seedcorn
Sentinel
Sightline
Spearhead
Springer
Sterling
Sunrise
Trust
Watchtower
Waypoint
Wellspring
Witness
posted by rollick at 6:17 AM on July 4, 2017