Freedom Communications Inc. will expand to Long Beach with a yet-to-be-named daily newspaper on August 1, according to the publisher hired to oversee the effort.
The new publication will be available with Freedom’s flagship Orange County Register on a subscription basis. It will focus on community news, said Ian Lamont, who returns to the city after serving as publisher of the Long Beach Press-Telegram from 2001 to 2004.
Lamont said he’s “scrambling to launch the paper in less than 30 days.”
The new publication will compete with the Press-Telegram, which is one of nine daily newspapers under MediaNews Group Inc.’s Los Angeles Newspaper Group.
Lamont is the only hire so far. The 16-page publication will feature two sections, with one focused on community news, features, opinion and “lots of photos,” Lamont said. The second section will report on sports and other activities in the area.
The Long Beach publication will follow new sections and other features that have been added to the Register in the past year under Boston-based 2100 Trust LLC, which bought Freedom last year.
The new ownership also has overseen expansions and additions to the roster of Freedom’s community newspapers. The Current, which serves Newport Beach and Costa Mesa, has gone from twice a week to five days a week. The Irvine World News is expected to make a similar shift later this month.
