DAY ONE FOR THE 5-DAY A WEEK CURRENT
The Current, the local edition that has been included with the Orange County Register on Fridays for subscribers in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, has now begun print publication five days a week - Monday through Friday - and today was the launch. Unfortunately for me, my Register didn't include
The Current today! Arrgghh! However, after one telephone call a copy magically appeared on my porch. Now, that's customer service! In the meantime, I'd snagged a copy from a local newspaper rack - an idea you should consider for this issue alone.
SUBSCRIBE!
As many of you know, because The Register now requires subscription to their online editions, some of you cannot see articles that I might link to here on this blog. I encourage you to find a way to subscribe because new owner
Aaron Kushner has spent a ton of money to revitalize his publication to the point that its really giving the Los Angeles Times a run for its money in Orange County.
COMPETITION FOR THE DAILY PILOT
The Current, which will directly compete with The Daily Pilot in this market, has been gaining strength recently. I suspect this is mainly due to the leadership of Editor Roger Bloom and his growing team. The reporters who cover Costa Mesa and Newport Beach also work a broader geographical area and are doing a great job.
CURRY AND RIGHEIMER FACE OFF
Today
The Current features a couple of commentaries by Costa Mesa Mayor
Jim Righeimer and Newport Beach Mayor
Keith Curry. If you're an online subscriber you can find it on page 7 of the E-version of The Current,
HERE. The question asked of them was, "
What can your city learn from your neighbor?". The answers are telegraphed by the great image provided to The Register by artist
Chris Morris, above.
CURRY
Curry uses his space to honestly compliment Costa Mesa for its shopping, diversity and arts venues. He mentions that the two cities have exchanged some excellent employees, mentioning that Newport's community development director (
Kim Brandt) came to them from Costa Mesa and that Costa Mesa's Police Chief (
Tom Gazsi) and Interim Fire Chief (
Tom Arnold) are both Newport Beach retirees.
He discusses Costa Mesas "
financial mess" and Assemblyman
Allan Mansoor's part in it, both during and following his tour as mayor in Costa Mesa. He closes his message with the following paragraph:
"Both Newport Beach and Costa Mesa are blessed with active, involved and passionate citizens. In the end, it is the people who make each city unique and special. We learn the best lessons when we listen to them."
RIGHEIMER
Righeimer, for his part, uses the space provided to demonstrate his envy of Newport Beach and to, once again, use it as a platform to hype his plan for Costa Mesa to become a Charter City.
He opens his piece by telling us that as long as he's mayor of Costa Mesa he will never vote to raise dock fees or remove fire rings from the beach - clearly a backhand at our neighbors. So much for a conciliatory message.
And, as a parting shot, his final paragraph reads as follows:
"
Oh, and one more lesson learned from Newport Beach: I appreciate now, more than ever, our debt-free half-century-old City Hall." Again, a backhand at Newport Beach for the dedication of their new Civic Center and Park. Ah, our mayor - ever the class act.
GOOD LUCK TO THE CURRENT
So, welcome to
The Current five days a week. It's going to be very interesting to see how this move will impact The Daily Pilot - our newspaper of record for more than a century. I think the competition will be great for both of them, and for the readers, too.
Labels: Aaron Kushner, Jim Righeimer, Keith Curry, Kim Brandt, Roger Bloom, The Current, Tom Arnold, Tom Gazsi
A few minutes ago the Orange County Business Journal reported that two investers who participated in the financing of the purchase of Freedom Communications by Aaron Kushner and Eric Spitz two years ago have asked the Delaware Chancery Court to put Freedom into receivership. According to the OCBJ report, which quotes the website Law360, the reason for the request is because, "it needs independent oversight because the company is insolvent and in financial distress from mismanagement."
This is on the heels of the botched change in local distribution of the Orange County Register locally, the sale of their headquarters in Santa Ana and pending sale of another 14 acres nearby.
Kushner and his team botched the launch of the LA Register earlier this year, have laid off many staffers and offered buyouts to others. They have tried to swim against the tide, emphasizing their print product while every other news outlet in the country is developing their digital presence.
Personally, I want Kushner to succeed - I like a print newspaper and they do a good job of covering Orange County issues - certainly better than the also-beleagured Los Angeles Times. This is not a good time for news folks. I hope they figure it out. Otherwise, you're going to be left getting your "news" from bozos like us bloggers! Arrrggghhh! 
