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English-language media: what is wrong with the letter Ñ?

Here's the thing: several English-language media organizations consider that the Ñ and the N are same letter. But they are not the same letter.

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Ñ. Eñe. Not simply a diacritical mark but in Spanish a letter in its own right. A letter to represent the identity of the Spanish language and also in some way the Latino identity.

"Put simply, we speakers of Spanish needed to be able to communicate place names and proper names clearly; we needed to be understood. The Ñ made things clear for the keepers of the Spanish language. Today, a noun with an Ñ has its own history, representing a particular place, person, thing, or idea. And a verb with an Ñ represents a specific action or state of being. When the ñ is replaced by the n, words like cariño, mañana, jalapeño, and countless others become muddled and disappear. In the Spanish language, the Ñ is indispensable for clear communication."
Rich Villar at Sofrito For Your Soul

Here's the thing: several English-language media organizations consider that the Ñ and the N are same letter. But they are not the same letter. Some examples:

1. How many times can American media outlets misspell 'Iñárritu'? A lot

The Mexican filmmaker won three Academy Awards Sunday night for 'Birdman' — Best Director, Best Original Screenplay and Best Picture.  However his three awards were not enough to have his name spelled correctly at some major American media outlets.

2. It is Michael Peña, not Pena.

Crag (peña) and pain (pena) are not the same.

 

3. AP 1969 Stylebook

4. You too, New York Times?

The Ñ appears correctly in the stories but not in Time Topics pages.

 

5. Huffington Post or The strange case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

HuffPo uses the Ñ only at Voces but not in its regular version.

 

6. Even Latino media...

7. Twitter

Twitter allows you to use Ñ in search terms, hashtags, bios... But not in one place: in Twitter handles. Not even @TwitterEspanol has an Ñ in its name!

This is why Project Ñ it is @projectenye. Now they want to reverse the trend. This is why they launched the hashtag #WhereInTheWorldIsTheÑ.

"Imagine an online space where the Ñ was universally recognized here in the United States. Imagine a space in which names, places, ideas, even food, were recognized and spelled correctly in its language of origin. Imagine a Twitter handle like @ProjectÑ. We can!"
Rich Villar at Sofrito For Your Soul

If you also respect the Ñ, join the conversation at  #WhereInTheWorldIsTheÑ to support integration of the Ñ across the twittersphere!

Because it is not the same. Definitely. 

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