New Tabloid, OC Weekly, Is Scheduled to Begin Publishing in September

OC Weekly, a new weekly tabloid, will make its debut in September, promising extensive coverage of Orange County’s culture, politics and lifestyles.

The weekly newspaper will be a sister publication to LA Weekly and the Village Voice in New York. The Los Angeles and New York papers are owned by New York-based Stern Publishing, a subsidiary of Harrison, N.J.-based Hartz Mountain Corp.

The new tabloid is expected to compete against OC Metro, a weekly publication, as well as daily newspapers. About 50,000 copies of the free publication will be distributed each Thursday beginning Sept. 14 through retail locations and street racks.

“We’ve been thinking about this for some time,” said Michael Sigman, publisher of LA Weekly, which long has been rumored to be interested in publishing an Orange County tabloid. “Orange County is one of the few places, if not the only place, of that size without a weekly tabloid.”

Will Swaim, who has served as an editor, writer and teacher in Orange County in recent years, will be the new publication’s editor. Swaim is now editor-in-chief of Irvine-based Business Start-Ups magazine, which is part of Entrepreneur Magazine Group. Swaim said the newspaper will track Orange County residents who excel in music, sports, fashion, publishing, design, business, academia and politics.

Melissa Reaves-Wagner, now an account executive at LA Weekly, will serve as advertising director. Reaves-Wagner previously worked for the San Diego Reader and San Diego Magazine.

While the new publication might occasionally run articles published in the Los Angeles sister publication, Sigman promises that OC Weekly will be an independent publication with its own editorial staff and a strong focus on Orange County.