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Freedom Communications, the parent company of the Orange County Register and the forthcoming LA Register, says it will introduce a new Spanish-language weekly newspaper called Unidos en el Sur de California on March 21. The weekly will combine the existing SoCal Spanish-language papers, Excelsior and La Prensa. Both of those papers will cease publishing on March 14. The new publication will hit only a portion of Los Angeles County, it looks like.
From the flackage:
Unidos en el Sur de California will publish four zoned editions every Friday serving Orange County, Inland Southern California, Coachella Valley, and Los Angeles. The fourth Los Angeles zone debuts March 28, and focuses on communities in Southeast Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley. When compared to Excelsior and La Prensa’s existing circulation, total circulation for Unidos en el Sur de California will expand by more than 100,000 to 323,476, which includes copies distributed to Orange County Register and The Press-Enterprise subscribers who request it.
Distribution points will focus on Hispanic-dominant communities and locations where multigenerational Hispanics live, work, shop and play. They include Latin American-themed grocers, family and children-themed clothing stores, restaurants, toy stores, electronics retailers, beauty salons, entertainment venues and coffee shops. A new website, unidossc.com, will also launch soon with breaking news and related information from Unidos en el Sur de California.“A local newspaper plays an incredibly important role in terms of uniting, connecting and building communities, and our Spanish-language newspapers have done a wonderful job going beyond standard news of the day to reflect the personality, culture, interests and achievements of Southern California’s Hispanics,” said Aaron Kushner, Freedom co-owner and CEO. “As Southern California’s Hispanic community grows in population and influence, Unidos en el Sur de California will build off our rich history in serving Southern California to become an even more robust community-building newspaper that fosters a strong sense of pride in community and speaks directly to multigenerational Hispanics.”
Unidos en el Sur de California will include news pages with a local countywide focus, while also dramatically expanding coverage of regional, state, national, and international news of particular interest and importance to Hispanics. Unidos en el Sur de California debuts with the following three sections:
•Noticias: Spotlights news, business developments and newsmakers on a local, regional, national and international level – with a special focus on Latin America where readers have deep roots and family connections;
•Deportes: From Mexican and European soccer, to up-coming boxing matches, to national and local sports important to Southern Californians, Deportes covers the teams and players for which this audience has a passion! The section delivers expanded national, regional, and local sports coverage, including the latest on local youth and adult leagues. Deportes will feature extensive World Cup coverage from June 12 to July 13, and reporter Scott M. Reid will cover United States and Mexico World Cup matches and event activities on location in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Auto ads, classifieds and personals will also run within the section.
•NEXT: To appeal to multigenerational and English-dominant Hispanics who love all things entertainment, a bilingual entertainment guide called NEXT will feature celebrity news, movie and music reviews, a gossip column, nightlife, fashion, trending topics on Twitter, top 10 lists and crossword puzzles. A robust list of events will also be included in the section, to offer suggestions on things to do and places to go throughout the weekend and coming week. Headlines and movie information will be in English, with the remainder of information in Spanish.
A significant development in the upcoming Unidos en el Sur de California launch is the promotion of Orlando Ramirez as Publisher. Ramirez has served in various editing roles since joining The Press-Enterprise in 1995, including the last 10 years as editor of La Prensa.
