Though The New York Times Company had announced the change months ago, the new name made its debut with Tuesday's edition of the paper. Richard Stevenson, the former Europe editor of The International Herald Tribune (IHT), told the news agency AFP that those nostalgic for the old title need not fear much.

"A couple of words in the name of the paper are changing, (but) this paper's name has changed multiple times throughout its history," Stevenson said. "The name change on the print newspaper does nothing to change the DNA of the operation here," he added. "It is simply bringing more of the resources of The New York Times to the mix."

The New York Times and Washington Post had co-owned the Paris-based IHT from 1967 until 2003, when The Times became its sole owner and restyled the newspaper as its global edition. In 2011, the company printed the IHT at 38 sites and distributed it to about 226,000 readers in more than 160 countries.

'A sad day'

Founded in October 1887 as The Paris Herald by New York Herald publisher Gordon Bennett, the newspaper catered to English-language readers in France and abroad. It became The Paris Herald Tribune in 1924 and finally The International Herald Tribune in 1967, when The New York Times joined the Washington Post to co-publish the paper.

Some Twitter users expressed regret about the name change. "A sad day for expats," wrote one. Another tweeted: "All IHT had to do was redesign. The name change to 'New York' signals a new provincial thinking and outlook."

Stevenson believes IHT readers will adapt quickly, calling the change "something that says to our readers all over the world that we are one news organization, capable of covering the world on any platform - print, digital - in any time zone."

"Newspapers are always evolving, there are always changes in them and I truly believe that the things that people are nostalgic about the International Herald Tribune will be just as present in the paper that starts appearing under the name International New York Times," Stevenson said. "What you love about The International Herald Tribune," he said, "will be in The International New York Times."

mkg/hc (AFP, dpa)