It’s not every day a new seven-day print newspaper launches. One such did today (January 26 LA time) in the print-and-digital form of the California Post.
Why print? The idea that (News Corp emeritus chair) Rupert Murdoch “loves print” may or may not be a factor… but there’s more.
The NY Post’s usually-cheeky front pages get attention, in a way digital never achieves and, as group editor-in-chief Keith Poole admits, “it’s a very fun thing to do”. Telling (UK) Press Gazette’s Charlotte Tobitt “print isn’t dead”, he claimed the print edition was “the heart and soul of… what the California Post will be about”.
The launch edition, interestingly, at least if you’re a local, features new background to a “break up” between “powerhouse directing duo” Josh and Benny Safdie.
Though the California Post was announced last August, there’s been very little published about the logistics of producing a printed product seven days a week in a city where you have no print facilities, although News’s Wall Street Journal has contractors to print its west coast editions. In San Francisco, it seems that may amount to the Alden Global Capital-owned Press-Enterprise facility in Riverside, where a 40-year-old Goss Headliner Offset was quite recently upgraded (see GXpress.net) ahead of a contract to print the LA Times.
They certainly wouldn’t be trucking copies across from their New York plant, about three times as far as the 1500 km News used to truck papers between Darwin and Alice Springs! GXpress asked for pictures of the historic start-up – the first edition coming off the presses, perhaps – but has not heard back to date, though there are plenty of the front (and back) covers to be seen.
Digital visitors are encouraged to sign up for a morning newsletter, while daily delivery of the print edition is offered for US$9.99 (A$14.43) a week.
Whether in print or online – with an “especially curated” homepage – the new California Post promises “original reporting from the West Coast’s sharpest journalists, all with a punchy voice only The Post can deliver. It includes the branded Page Six entertainment coverage, “taking over Hollywood with an insider perspective on Tinseltown’s movers and shakers”, as well as “unrivalled” sports reporting.
The project is the responsibility of Brit Keith Poole, the New York Post’s editor-in-chief and a former deputy and digital editor of The (UK) Sun, but there’s a strong Australian component in the mix… quite apart from Rupert and Lachlan Murdoch’s Australian heritage. California Post editor-in-chief Nick Papps was previously weekend editor of News’ (Melbourne) Herald Sun, a former editor of the Geelong Advertiser, and (from 2004-6) and worked as LA correspondent for News Australia. Another key member is Barclay Crawford, who had served as editor of Daily Mail Australia.
The San Francisco Chronicle posted an Associated Press report of the launch to its arts and entertainment section.
The main newsroom is at (jointly-owned) Fox Studios with staff of between 80-100 is being mentioned, and recruiting still underway. Reporters are also based in Sacramento, San Francisco and San Diego.
To some extent, the new Post hits the ground running, with the NY Post’s claimed three million monthly visitors in LA and more than seven million in California.
There’s also been a substantial marketing campaign, with the visual puns extending to truck sides. Pictured (top) is just part of the fun, a cost-unspeciified eight-week, multi-platform push that spans billboards, street activations, radio and digital across Los Angeles and San Francisco created by agency Code and Theory. These are Yeastie Boys food trucks, from which free bagels will be handed out during the first two weeks of the launch.
In his interview with Tobitt, Poole said News had identified California as a “news desert” with “one of the lowest (ratio of) professional journalists per capita in the country, despite being the second biggest media market”. He’s also critical of the LA Times’ perceived failure to consistently put readers first.
In a media release, New York Post Media Group – “home to the oldest continuously-published daily newspaper in the US” (with a bank of hot-metal linecasters pictured on its site) – boasts “three consecutive years of profitability beginning in fiscal 2022”. The New York Post was founded by Alexander Hamilton in 1801. The announcement also cites “notable advertising support” from Yaamava Resort & Casino, News-owned Realtor.com, Fox Entertainment and Fox Sports.
We hope there’ll be more. There will certainly be pride and joy – not least for the nonagenarian emeritus chair – in making sure that this exciting but almost unprecedented investment sticks.
Peter Coleman