Chris Anderson remade the OC Register in the 1980s, creating a vibrant, new type of newspaper. But even the celebrated Anderson ran into problems trying to remake a newspaper for the 21st century. His departure from the Register last week leaves the man who beat him out for the CEO job of Irvine-based parent Freedom Communi-cations, executive transplant Scott Flanders, as undisputed boss (see page 10). With his people in place, Flanders must deal with declines at the Reg and try to buck the media trend by keeping Freedom a family-controlled enterprise …
It speaks volumes about the state of the newspaper industry that Anderson got squeezed out in the same year Editor & Publisher named him its Publisher of the Year …
The Insider sees big changes, if any future at all, for OC Post, the “Register Lite” that Anderson launched a year ago. Flanders says he and Anderson “did differ on the content and especially whether to pursue paid circulation. It should be free with a home delivery charge, at the most.” Flanders is “confident” new Reg Publisher Terry Horne “will reach this point of view once he evaluates the positioning of this product” …
Big changes at The Irvine Company, too: The Insider thinks the promotion of Dan Young to head Donald Bren’s home development company is evidence that today it is as important to know how to entitle a house as how to build one (story, page 1) …
Thanks to the rat problem, Angel Stadium now has the unusual situation of union and non-union cleanup crews working side by side. Some of the Angels’ unionized workforce had to quit when the team, countering criticism that trash was being left in the stands overnight, moved up the cleaning schedule from the morning to immediately after games. With union replacements not readily available, the Angels turned to non-union Event People Inc. to make up the difference. The Irvine-based company is run by Matt Venegas, hubbie of Lincoln Club Executive Director Clare Venegas …
Yankees spotted: Joe Torre at Cafe Beau Soleil in Fashion Island; Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada with sports agent Jack Tiernan at the Anaheim White House; Alex Rodriguez lifting weights at The Sports Club/LA in Irvine. A-Rod hit three homers against the Angels during his stay,let’s hope Scott Boras gets him to switch sides in the offseason …
As columnist Robert Novak notes, “The ‘R’ word (recession) is in the Washington air.” Is it in the OC air, too? “Not at this point,” says Chapman U’s Essie Adibi, “but there is a significant slowdown in job growth.” Adibi and subprime lender Jason Grange (Premier Mortgage Lending) appear this week on “Inside OC.”
– Rick Reiff
