New LA newspaper embraces print in digital world
Aaron Kushner believes he can launch and grow a print newspaper in a world gone digital.
The former greeting card executive is trying to turn the Orange County Register into a media giant in southern California, largely driven by paper and ink. The unconventional effort gets a jolt Wednesday when Freedom Communications Inc., the company Kushner bought with other investors two years ago, launches the Los Angeles Register.
The daily newspaper will be available at 5,500 locations around L.A. — at many newsstands and vending boxes where the 132-year-old Los Angeles Times is found. It’s the first direct challenge on the Times’ home market since the Herald-Examiner folded in November 1989.
Kushner hopes to build the newspaper’s readership by differentiating it from the Times with deep coverage of local news and a political stance that’s center-right.
Kushner is an interesting fellow, and I hope that his experiment is successful. Also in a similar vein is the Boston Globe’s recent energy boost under new owner John Henry.
(ht waterman12053)