MEDIA

Orange County Register to Close Afternoon Edition: The Register said it will close its afternoon edition April 1 and lay off 50 circulation employees. Afternoon subscribers will receive the morning newspaper, officials said. The Register, owned by Freedom Newspapers Inc. of Irvine, has seen its afternoon circulation drop from about 108,000 in 1980 to about 52,000 in February, while morning circulation has grown to 300,000 from about 113,000. “It has become increasingly expensive to produce and deliver an afternoon edition for fewer and fewer subscribers,” Publisher R. David Threshie said in a prepared statement.