Southland Publishing, Inc. is a publishing company based in
Pasadena, California with five offices in
Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
(
Downtown Los Angeles,
Ventura County
Ventura County () is a County (United States), county in Southern California, the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, California ...
,
Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...
, Pasadena, and
San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
). The company produces
weekly newspaper
A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background.
Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as p ...
s, monthly
magazines, direct mail products, and affiliated websites throughout California and selected states throughout the U.S.
Publications
Alternative weeklies
*''Pasadena Weekly''
* ''
San Diego CityBeat
''San Diego CityBeat'' was an alternative weekly newspaper in San Diego, California that focused on local progressive politics, arts, and music. It was published every Wednesday and distributed around San Diego county, although with a focus on the ...
''
* ''Ventura County Reporter''
Community weekly
*''The Argonaut''
*''
Los Angeles Downtown News
The ''Los Angeles Downtown News'' is a free weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, California, serving the Downtown Los Angeles area.
The newspaper focuses on general news with an emphasis on real estate and business along with coverage of the arts sc ...
''
Monthly magazines
* ''
Arroyo Monthly''
* ''
Culture Magazine'' (sold Fall 2018)
* ''
Ventana Monthly''
Ventanamonthly.com
/ref>
Direct Mail monthly
* ''Ventura Direct''
History
Southland Publishing, Inc. was founded in 1998 converting from the former name Ventura Newspaper, Inc. This was done to reflect the vision of building a multi-media company throughout Southern California
Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...
. Southland Publishing was named and spearheaded by David Comden, its first Group Publisher. The vision was to develop a group of newsweeklies that covered Southern California (the Southland)which were similar in concept but unique to each market served.
Southland Publishing grew to have a collective of newsweeklies, magazines and direct mail publications, all printed by Valley business Printers in Sylmar, CA.
The first publication for Southland was the ''Ventura County Reporter'', a newsweekly serving Ventura County, California
Ventura County () is a county in the southern part of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 843,843. The largest city is Oxnard, and the county seat is the city of Ventura.
Ventura County comprises the Oxn ...
. In January 2001, Southland purchased the ''Pasadena Weekly'' in 2001 from Tribune Company
Tribune Media Company, also known as Tribune Company, was an American multimedia conglomerate headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.
Through Tribune Broadcasting, Tribune Media was one of the largest television broadcasting companies, owning 39 ...
(then owners of the ''Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
''). Southland Publishing then purchased ''SLAMM'' magazine, a music biweekly, from publisher Kevin Hellman in 2002, changing the name to ''San Diego CityBeat
''San Diego CityBeat'' was an alternative weekly newspaper in San Diego, California that focused on local progressive politics, arts, and music. It was published every Wednesday and distributed around San Diego county, although with a focus on the ...
''.
Southland then purchased the "Inland Empire Weekly" ("IE Weekly"), another newsweekly serving the San Bernardino and Riverside Counties (The Inland Empire)founded by Jeremy Jachary.
Southland then purchased ''The Argonaut'' in 2013. ''The Argonaut'', founded in 1971, was initially focused on the new Marina del Rey
Marina del Rey (Spanish language, Spanish for "Marina of the King") is an unincorporated area, unincorporated seaside community in Los Angeles County, California, with an eponymous harbor that is a major boating and water recreation destination ...
and has since expanded its coverage to include West Los Angeles
West Los Angeles is an area within the city of Los Angeles, California. The residential and commercial neighborhood is divided by the Interstate 405 freeway, and each side is sometimes treated as a distinct neighborhood, mapped differently by di ...
: Santa Monica
Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing to i ...
, Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 bridges. The isla ...
, Playa Vista
Playa Vista is a neighborhood in the Westside area of Los Angeles, California. The area was the headquarters of Hughes Aircraft Company from 1941 to 1985 and the site of the construction of the Hughes H-4 Hercules "Spruce Goose" aircraft. The ...
, Playa del Rey
Playa del Rey (Spanish for "Beach of the King") is a seaside community in the Santa Monica Bay and the Westside region of Los Angeles, California. It has a ZIP code of 90293 and area codes of 310 and 424. As of 2018, the community had a populat ...
, Westchester, and Marina del Rey. In 2017, Southland purchased the ''Los Angeles Downtown News
The ''Los Angeles Downtown News'' is a free weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, California, serving the Downtown Los Angeles area.
The newspaper focuses on general news with an emphasis on real estate and business along with coverage of the arts sc ...
'' from Sue Laris, who founded the publication in 1972.
''Los Angeles Downtown News''
The ''Los Angeles Downtown News'' was launched to serve the downtown commuter crowd of the 1970s. Since that time, Downtown Los Angeles has blossomed into a 24/7 live-work urban city with thousands of hotel rooms and condos built to accommodate the workforce. In addition, the area is now home to world class entertainment facilities, museums, and restaurants.
''Pasadena Weekly''
''Pasadena Weekly'' was launched in 1984 and it covers community news on Pasadena
Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.
...
, such as city government, public safety, and events, along with opinion, arts, entertainment and dining listings, and an 8-days listing with events scheduled for the Pasadena community. It is published on Thursdays and it is available only on newsstands located in the downtown area for free. It also publishes "Happy Birthday, Pasadena" to celebrate the city's anniversary of incorporation in June, the "Best of Pasadena" edition in October, and a "Welcome Pasadena" edition in December during Christmas involving the Rose Parade.
''San Diego CityBeat''
''San Diego CityBeat'' (formerly ''SLAMM'' magazine) was bought by Southland in 2002, which converted it into an alternative newsweekly seeking to target young, educated readers in San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...
, an audience whose needs, Southland's owners felt, were not being met by the other two major publications in San Diego, ''The San Diego Union-Tribune
''The San Diego Union-Tribune'' is a metropolitan daily newspaper published in San Diego, California, that has run since 1868.
Its name derives from a 1992 merger between the two major daily newspapers at the time, ''The San Diego Union'' and ...
'' and the ''San Diego Reader
The ''San Diego Reader'' is an alternative press newspaper in the county of San Diego
San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With ...
''.
''Ventura County Reporter''
The ''Ventura County Reporter'' was founded in 1976 in Oxnard, California
Oxnard () is a city in Ventura County, California, United States. On California's South Coast, it is the most populous city in Ventura County and the 22nd-most-populous city in California. Incorporated in 1903, Oxnard lies approximately west ...
. Purchased from Nancy Cloutier in 1997, the paper was then known as the ''Ventura County & Coast Reporter'', officed in the Ventura Harbor Village. The weekly was renamed the ''Ventura County Reporter'' (also known as the '’VC Reporter'' on its website) and David Comden was brought in to be publisher in 1998. The ''VC Reporter'' is now located at 700 E. Main Street in downtown Ventura.
Among the magazines under the Southland banner were: "Arroyo Monthly" serving the San Gabriel Valley, "Ventana Monthly"
which is the magazine of the Pasadena area, "Playa Vista Direct" focusing on the Playa Vista area of Los Angeles, "Culture Magazine", one of the leading publications for the Cannabis culture. Culture was sold to "High Times Holdings" in 2018.'
Southland Publishing, inc. was sold in July 2019 to Times Media Group
Arena Holdings, formerly known as Tiso Blackstar Group, Johnnic Communications, Avusa and Times Media Group, is a media company in South Africa. Avusa means "to rouse feelings, to revive and evoke action". The name was changed in 2007 in order to ...
.
References
External links
Corporate website
{{Pasadena, California
Weekly newspaper companies of the United States
Magazine publishing companies of the United States