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Introducing blogdowntown Weekly

By Eric Richardson
Published: Tuesday, July 20, 2010, at 06:00AM

Eric Richardson / blogdowntown

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — You know all those stories you hear about how print is dead and everything is going digital?

Starting a newspaper really doesn't rank very high on the list of smart things to do right now, it would seem. And yet, that's exactly what we're going to be doing in about two weeks.

On August 5, we're launching blogdowntown Weekly, a Thursday print edition focused on calendar and lifestyle content for Downtown. It's an enormous step for us, and one that has consumed most of my waking hours over the last six months.

We're going to be printing 25,000 tabloid-sized, full-color papers and distributing them throughout Downtown each week, offering content that covers nightlife, culture, food, fashion, news and entertainment. Below you'll find the front page of our mockup issue, which we just got back from the printer on Monday.

We believe that there's a void in the marketplace right now for a print publication that is really aimed at letting those who live, work and visit Downtown know about all the amazing events and destinations our neighborhoods have to offer each and every week. From food to bars to art to theatre to music, there's a lot going on these days. We want to be the guide that helps Downtowners plan their calendars.

Why print? There's something uniquely powerful about a newspaper that's sitting at the cafe, just waiting to catch your eye and tempt you to pick it up. It's a way to reach out to those who might not make the effort to find us online and to get them a little more connected to the community around them.

It's going to be an interesting journey. We've already added a Director of Advertising and Marketing, Alan J. House (who you can email at if you're interested in advertising), and hope to be adding a writer/editor to our staff in the next two weeks.

Bear with us as we figure this all out, and let's go see what this next chapter for Downtown is going to bring.

We've also posted the press release that we sent out this morning about blogdowntown Weekly.

Eric Richardson / blogdowntown

Front page of the blogdowntown Weekly mockup issue / ad kit, which you can flip through on the blogdowntown Weekly page.

Conversation

Guest 1

Guest on July 20, 2010, at 07:39AM – #1

Very nice Eric and Ed. Congratulations!

Clyde CB1 Gallery cb1gallery.com

DavidAC on July 20, 2010, at 09:11AM – #2

Very, very cool!

Congratulations Eric!

bruins_united on July 20, 2010, at 09:14AM – #3

this is awesome. congratulations!

please be sure to let us know where we can pick one up when it comes out. i'll be picking one up weekly for sure.

Julie Jamerson on July 20, 2010, at 09:53AM – #4

Awesome! Looking forward to checking it out.

Guest 2

Guest on July 20, 2010, at 10:07AM – #5

Rad!

crystal on July 20, 2010, at 10:19AM – #6

congrats! will be on the look out for it

on July 20, 2010, at 10:28AM – #7

Gorgeous.

Anna DeVicariis on July 20, 2010, at 11:16AM – #8

Congratulations! I'll have to check it out.

Anna DeVicariis on July 20, 2010, at 11:23AM – #9

Just a thought it would be awesome to see your news paper feature your Flickr account pictures of Downtown with credit. Now a days it's not only hard to be a photographer but hard to get your name out there.

Raul Borja on July 20, 2010, at 11:30AM – #10

Congrats! A brave step for sure, but I for one like having a paper in my hand to browse through.

Eric Richardson () on July 20, 2010, at 11:40AM – #11

Anna: One of the features that we're definitely including each week is a page that just features a handful of our favorite photos from the week. You can see that if you go to the weekly page and take a look at page two in the test issue.

Those could be ones that we've taken or ones that others have submitted to us for consideration. Eventually I think that's maybe even something where we can set up a process online to let folks vote on their favorite photo to get included -- sort of a Readers' Choice entry.

on July 20, 2010, at 11:47AM – #12

Congrats! Very much looking forward to this addition to the printscape!

Tornadoes28 on July 20, 2010, at 12:46PM – #13

A print edition. Why?

Sommer Lawal on July 20, 2010, at 01:14PM – #14

Congratulations! This is exciting - downtowners love all things tangible and real. There's something appealing about the tradition of touching what we read, which is why I read A TON online, but when I'm relaxing, I grab a book or magazine. Of course we're on top of the digital trends, however, we still identify with our roots. This will be a great publication to pique interesting discussions in coffee shops, etc. I'm at Lost Souls Cafe right now and I see a good number of newspaper/magazine readers amongst the cyber geeks.

J-M on July 20, 2010, at 01:59PM – #15

Congratulations, guys! That's fantastic news. I was literally thinking about print editions yesterday. I don't mean to bash anyone, but I remember how much I used to like the print edition of the Downtown News, but how little I care for it nowadays. I think a little competition will be good for everyone, and it's interesting to see an online blog evolve into a print edition, rather than the other way around. This fits into the big, bold vision for Downtown that we all share and I'm looking forward to seeing the first edition soon. When things keep evolving even during a recession, you know good things are going to happen.

() on July 20, 2010, at 02:45PM – #16

congrats. i fully support this sort of insanity.

Adam Steinbaugh () on July 20, 2010, at 04:21PM – #17

In lieu of posting comments on the site, I intend to scribble comments below articles and hope the next coffeeshop patron picks up the paper.

on July 20, 2010, at 04:37PM – #18

Looking forward, this should be great!

skidrowdude on July 20, 2010, at 05:40PM – #19

Hey Eric- as much as I hate anything in print nowadays, I've always missed a great weekly newspaper about DT that I can take w/ me to pool, beach, on Metro, etc.

I wish you the best and hope you can get advitisers to jump on this idea as many times I am reading trying to figure out where to eat, plans for weekend, etc.

And looking forward to your take on the recent downtown crime/drug wave in Historic Core.

Harry M on July 20, 2010, at 06:37PM – #20

A hearty congratulations!

Guest 3

Guest on July 20, 2010, at 08:33PM – #21

Sorry to be such a wet blanket or killjoy, but I'm puzzled by your endeavor.

How will a hard-copy publication fare in the still rather small community of downtown? How will it do in a community that doesn't exactly have the greatest economy? For instance, there are spaces for stores in downtown that have sat vacant for years. Similar spots in the Valley, Pasadena, west LA, Orange County, Thousand Oaks would have been snapped up a long time ago.

Biggest question of all: Are there such major gaps in the typical edition of the Downtown News that another local paper is needed? Yes, there are various omissions in the DN's coverage. But, in my opinion, not so huge to make the idea of a new cross-(down)town competitor sound all that lucrative.

As for the biggest head scratcher of them all: Launching newsrack type of reading material in the age of the Internet??!!

Nancy Richardson () on July 20, 2010, at 08:39PM – #22

Ah, another step towards a Richardson Media Empire!

Video of Eric and Ed at an important meeting at the founding of the paper:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oav-tDznRq0

Guest 4

Guest on July 20, 2010, at 09:51PM – #23

Congrats! Excellent. This is good news.

Guest 5

Guest on July 20, 2010, at 10:09PM – #24

I will pick this up over the Downtown News, Garmet and Citizen, Bunker Hill or DTLAX!

Don Garza on July 20, 2010, at 11:01PM – #25

Great Vision... this will help send folks to the blogdowntown website! Finally! Now I can turn off the computer.. once a week! Oh my!

Amy on July 21, 2010, at 01:46AM – #26

I think it's a great idea. I can't wait to read it every week!

on July 21, 2010, at 06:08PM – #27

I love it, and will read it. Congrats guys!

() on July 22, 2010, at 04:57AM – #28

Congrats... I still believe print is an important way to distribute news around a community like downtown. Good luck.

Susana Benavidez on July 22, 2010, at 08:53AM – #29

AWESOME!! :)

Brigham Yen on July 22, 2010, at 09:44AM – #30

Very nice congrats

Jon on July 23, 2010, at 09:13PM – #31

Hope you can make them available at LA Live. That place draws a lot of people who may not know much about the rest of downtown.

How about dropping some off at USC as well?

Dixon on July 24, 2010, at 07:42PM – #32

Congratulations! Good luck on your new venture.

One word of advice: work on your headlines. Try to put them in present tense whenever possible and always use a strong action verb. Stop the wedding cake style (or inverted wedding cake), the times when you have one extra word dangling at the end or alone at the beginning of a three-line headline. Go for two-line heads whenever possible, and watch that type size. Try to fill the entire line space with type; don't leave any large holes in your headlines.

Look at the head on this article---"Introducing Blogdowntown Weekly"

Problems: it has no strong action verb, it's not in simple present tense and it doesn't even fill up the entire line, leaving blank space at the end. Try this: Blogdowntown Introduces Print Weekly (size it to fit the entire space)

Don't dumb yourselves down with weak headlines. May I suggest designating someone special and talented to write those heads?

on July 25, 2010, at 06:03AM – #33

yep enjoy reading your blog, great to see a printed version too. hopefully you can toss a stack for the news stand on larchmont. they won't mind.

Eric Richardson () on July 25, 2010, at 02:59PM – #34

Fallen Angel: There's a world of difference in handling headlines for the web (where you really don't have such a thing as fitting to the space, since it's going to render differently in different contexts) and headlines for print.

That said, I definitely agree that good headline writing is a special skill.

Guest 6

Guest on July 25, 2010, at 10:38PM – #35

I love rhyming headlines the most. They beat out alliteration. I can make sweet love to Sticks Nix Hick Pix.

Frank Schultz on July 27, 2010, at 03:01PM – #36

Congrats Eric! I wish you all success.

Guest 7

Guest on August 01, 2010, at 01:25PM – #37

Make sure to stock the green Garment and Citizen rack in front of LATC...hope you can make arrangements with the previous owner and get your newsrack permit

Eric Richardson () on August 01, 2010, at 02:18PM – #38

Guest: We aren't looking to use newsracks, at least to start. We're focused on inside distribution in residential buildings, retailers, cafes and coffee shops.

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