By Acsah Lemma
With the Daily Forty-Niner’s name changing to the Long Beach Current, and other aspects of the publication evolving as well, that overarching goal of 75 years does not.
As awareness grew of the “49er miners” violence against Native Americans as well as Long Beach State’s move away from the 49er name, the students of the Daily Forty-Niner voted to change the publication’s name to the Long Beach Current.
“I think we are headed in a direction of improvements in multimedia, improvements in the coverage of marginalized communities, improvements in all aspects of journalism,” said former Editor-in-Chief Christal Gaines-Emory, who helped lead the newspaper’s rebrand efforts. This includes a new website and mission statement.
The Long Beach Current is “committed to recognizing both our triumphs and our shortcomings, striving continuously to fortify connections with campus organizations, officials and faculty—paving the way for a common vision,” according to the updated mission statement.
With this new leaf, the publication hopes to “become a more resonant voice for the student body and establish confidence in our coverage.”
Isabel Patterson was one of the first Daily Forty-Niner editors and later became a philanthropist who gave away millions in scholarships and made the Isabel Patterson Child Development Center possible:
… people ask me today, ‘how come they call them the 49ers?’ And I said, ‘Because the school started in 1949. What better?’ And then you ask about the colors. The gold is for the 49ers–the ‘gold seekers.’ And the brown is for the earth … and we named the paper the Forty-Niner. And we named the yearbook The Prospector.
Community engagement editor Richie Rodriguez was in the newsroom with editors who were suggesting potential new names for the Daily Forty-Niner in 2022. Rodriguez threw out “Long Beach Current” as a play on “Beach” ocean waves and newspaper current events.
They just stopped and stared at each other and started repeating it to themselves under their breaths. And they just looked at me and said ‘I think that’s the name.’
Rodriguez, who graduated in 2023, joined a committee of students, alumni and advisers who contacted alumni, presented the change to staff and launched the rebrand efforts.
I think it’s great for organizations to look inward and cast a wider net of outreach, especially since we’re a campus publication. We need to align with the times in terms of what students and faculty can relate to.
Madison D’Ornellas, managing editor who graduated in 2016:
Like the undertow of an ocean, I think underneath the current … it will always be the Daily Forty-Niner. I met my closest friends in the newsroom. … So it’ll always be a name close to my heart. But I’m excited for this new change and I’m excited to see what the new class and new group of editors do with it.
Lindsey Peters, web editor and assistant design editor who graduated in 2016:
As much as I look at my time at the Daily Forty-Niner fondly with nostalgia, I know that things do need to change especially considering the previous associations with the Gold Rush movement and the 49er brand. And now there’s the Sharks, I think a change was necessary. … I am glad to see the paper potentially getting new life and new enthusiasm with this change.
