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Copley Set to Make New North County Push

The North County Times will soon have a new competitor with the launching of the Copley Press publication Today’s Local News.

Copley Press, which publishes the San Diego Union-Tribune, is set to launch the newspaper targeting North County at the end of October.

This is not the first time that the Union-Tribune has set its sights on North County.

Currently, the Union-Tribune publishes special North County inland and North County coastal editions focusing on community news every Wednesday through Sunday.

Today’s Local News is scheduled to be delivered free to 75,000 households each day except Monday, according to a marketing brochure obtained by the San Diego Business Journal.

The new publication will be aimed at households that do not subscribe to the Union-Tribune and are considered demographically attractive to advertisers, according to the brochure.

More details about the publication will be released to the media in the next several weeks, said a Union-Tribune spokeswoman.

Linda Hastings, the publisher of Today’s Local News, said she couldn’t comment until more information is released by Copley Press.

Hastings, contacted at the paper’s San Marcos headquarters, said the paper will be staying “low-key” for the next several weeks.

According to the marketing brochure, the publication will be based in San Marcos, on Armorlite Drive. It will contain short articles, news coverage of schools, sports, park and recreational activities and community information, including “real life stories and local heroes.”

The brochure, aimed at potential advertisers, stated coverage will focus on the cities of Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos and Escondido.

Ad rates will range from $1,280 for a full-page ad to $440 for a quarter-page, the brochure states.

The brochure lists a Web site, which, as of Oct. 7, was not available to the public.

The Union-Tribune has run classified ads seeking section editors and reporters for the paper in the news, business, sports, and arts and entertainment sections.

The North County Times has been the largest newspaper targeting North County since 1995, serving Carlsbad, Oceanside, Vista, San Marcos, Escondido, Poway, Encinitas, southwest Riverside County, Fallbrook, and the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base.

North County Times Editor Kent Davy said the Union-Tribune’s push into North County signifies Copley Press’ realization of the importance of community news.

“From what I know, it would appear that the Copley Press recognizes again that there is an enormous value in local news, which is exactly what we believe to be the strength of the N.C. Times,” Davy said. “It sounds like they are going to try to emulate the extensive community news that we already put in the paper.”

Davy said he welcomes the competition brought on by the new publication.

“Competition always makes news better,” he said. “It is great to be in a two-newspaper town. When you hear of newspapers pulling up shop or combining, it’s sad. Readers benefit from competition.”

Mark Henschen, the North County Times’ circulation director, said the newspaper has continued to expand its readership base, while the Union-Tribune has declined in that area.

It’s one possible reason for the publication’s aim toward North County, he said.

“The David Copley (new publisher of the Union-Tribune) era has begun. He is recognizing that North County is the best part of San Diego County,” Henschen said. “Of course they would come here. This is the place to be if you want to be where the best is.”

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, a third-party organization auditing every publication in America, the North County Times’ paid circulation for the six months ending March 31 is 94,360 for Monday-Saturday and 96,368 for Sunday.

The Union-Tribune’s total paid circulation for that period is 328,317 for Monday-Wednesday, 383,224 for Thursday-Saturday and 444,527 for Sunday.

The Union-Tribune’s North County editions total circulation as of Dec. 31 was 106,366 for Wednesday-Saturday and 127,710 for Sunday.

Tim Wulfemeyer, a professor of journalism at San Diego State University, said a new publication will be a bit of a risk for Copley Press, but that having an existing publication to lean on will help significantly in the promotion of the newspaper.

“I’m sure they will be doing cross-promotional things. It won’t be hanging out there on its own,” Wulfemeyer said. “It is always hard for the new kid on the block, but that fact that it has a parent company will definitely help.”

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