Papers Get New Names

The names of some of Los Angeles’ longstanding weekly newspapers--like the 64-year-old Griffith Park News--disappeared last week and were replaced by the Los Angeles Independent.

The name changes come seven months after National Media Inc. bought 11 Los Angeles weekly newspapers--with a combined circulation of 203,000 in such neighborhoods as Hollywood, Koreatown, Westlake and Fairfax--from Meredith Corp., publisher of Ladies Home Journal and Better Homes & Gardens.

“We want to provide a commonality between the newspapers--they were too fragmented,” said Stephen C. Laxineta, 51, president of National Media, which also owns two small weeklies in Pasadena and Altadena. “Advertisers sometimes got us confused,” he said. “They thought they were dealing with different outfits.”

The Los Angeles Independent, distributed free of charge, will be divided into four editions with editorial and advertising material tailored to each area. Also, newspapers will be distributed to businesses for the first time.

Since being bought by National Media, the 11 newspapers have received a graphic face lift and run more staff-produced stories, says Laxineta. “They (Meredith) published press releases rather than doing original stories,” he said.

The company, which employs about 60 people, has also merged the editorial, business and production staffs of the Los Angeles and Pasadena newspapers to cut costs and increase efficiency, says Laxineta. About 10 people, mostly from the old Meredith staffs, lost their jobs as a result of the merger.

The 11 weeklies merged into the Los Angeles Independent were the Wilshire Press, Hollywood Independent, Griffith Park News, Los Angeles City News, Los Angeles City Press, Los Feliz Hills News, Northwest Leader, Parkside Journal, West Hollywood/Beverly Hills Sun Living, Westlake Post and Wilshire Independent.