The Southern California News Group (SCNG), formerly the San Gabriel Valley News Group and the Los Angeles News Group, is an umbrella group of local daily

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

s published in the

greater Los Angeles area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...

of southern California by

Digital First Media MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

, which is owned by the

hedge fund A hedge fund is a Pooling (resource management), pooled investment fund that holds Market liquidity, liquid assets and that makes use of complex trader (finance), trading and risk management techniques to aim to improve investment performance and ...

Alden Global Capital.

History

Originally named the San Gabriel Valley News Group (SGVN), the organization was formed as an umbrella name for

MediaNews Group MNG Enterprises, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Digital First Media and MediaNews Group, is a Denver, Colorado, United States–based newspaper publisher owned by Alden Global Capital. As of May 2021, it owns over 100 newspapers and 200 ass ...

–operated newspapers in the Los Angeles area. SGVN began when MediaNews Group purchased the '' Pasadena Star-News'', '' San Gabriel Valley Tribune'', and '' Whittier Daily News'' from

Thomson Corporation Thomson Corporation was one of the world's largest information companies. It was established in 1989 following a merger between International Thomson Organization and Thomson Newspapers. In 2008, it purchased Reuters Group to form Thomson Reut ...

in 1996. Thomson had already operated all three newspapers as a unit, sharing news and sports sections among the three papers (which cover geographically adjacent territories) with different story placement based on the region being served. Subsequently, in 1997 the '' Long Beach Press-Telegram'' was purchased from Knight-Ridder and in 1998 the ''

Los Angeles Daily News The ''Los Angeles Daily News'' is the second-largest-circulating paid daily newspaper of Los Angeles, California, after the unrelated ''Los Angeles Times'', and the flagship newspaper of the Southern California News Group, a branch of Colorado ...

'' was purchased from Jack Kent Cooke, and the organization was renamed the Los Angeles News Group (LANG). In 1999, LANG acquired three newspapers in the

Inland Empire The Inland Empire (commonly abbreviated as the IE) is a metropolitan area and region inland of and adjacent to coastal Southern California, centering around the cities of San Bernardino and Riverside, and bordering Los Angeles County and Or ...

– the '' Inland Valley Daily Bulletin'' serving the Pomona Valley/Ontario area and '' Redlands Daily Facts'' from Donrey Media, and '' The San Bernardino Sun'' from

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

. Finally, in 2006, LANG acquired the '' Daily Breeze'' serving the South Bay area of Los Angeles County from Copley Press. On March 21, 2016, a bankruptcy judge approved the sale of Freedom Communications and its two major newspapers, the ''

Orange County Register ''The Orange County Register'' is a paid daily List of newspapers in California, newspaper published in California. The ''Register'', published in Orange County, California, is owned by the private equity firm Alden Global Capital via its Digit ...

'' and the '' Riverside Press-Enterprise'' to

. Thus, LANG was renamed Southern California News Group. The sale closed on March 31, 2016. Reports from former Freedom Communications writers began appearing in other SCNG newspapers, and vice versa, the next day. The news coverage of the newspapers are mainly local and state stories, including Los Angeles area news provided by City News Service. The newspapers contain some national and international news, often from the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

. The newspapers share coverage and printing presses, with a central copy editing and design desk, and staff writers file the same stories for all members of the group, including sharing sports beat writers, which has caused controversy. The newspapers also share editorials and speak as one voice on regional issues. Some have said that the former Freedom Communications' distinctive

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

- libertarian editorial voice may be lost in the process.

Newspapers

The newspapers include: * '' Daily Breeze'' – Torrance and the South Bay (acquired from the

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

–based Copley Press in 2007) * '' Inland Valley Daily Bulletin'' – Pomona Valley and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

; originally were two separate papers: the ''Pomona Progress-Bulletin'' and the ''Ontario Daily Report'' (merged in April 1990) (acquired in 1999 from Donrey). * ''

Press-Telegram The ''Press-Telegram'' is a paid daily newspaper published in Long Beach, California. Coverage area for the ''Press-Telegram'' includes Long Beach, Lakewood, Signal Hill, Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Compton, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, L ...

'' –

Long Beach Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...

serving the greater Long Beach area * ''

'' –

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

metropolitan area (San Fernando Valley) and Northern Los Angeles County, and the flagship newspaper of the group. * ''

'' – serving

Orange County, California Orange County (officially the County of Orange; often initialized O.C.) is a county (United States), county located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area in Southern California, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, the population ...

* '' Pasadena Star-News'' – Pasadena serving the greater Pasadena area * '' Redlands Daily Facts'' – Redlands (acquired in 1999 from Donrey) serving the Redlands area * '' The Press-Enterprise'' – Riverside serving western and central Riverside County * '' The San Bernardino Sun'' –

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

serving the San Bernardino Valley * '' San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' –

Monrovia Monrovia () is the administrative capital city, capital and largest city of Liberia. Founded in 1822, it is located on Cape Mesurado on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast and as of the 2022 census had 1,761,032 residents, home to 33.5% of Liber ...

serving the central and east San Gabriel Valley * '' Whittier Daily News'' – Whittier serving the Pico Rivera and Whittier areas * ''San Diego Union Tribune'' serving San Diego County (purchased July 10, 2023). Also included are the community weeklies, which include the ''Palos Verdes Peninsula News'' and '' The Beach Reporter'', which publishes on Thursdays with the ''Daily Breeze'', the ''Gazette'' weeklies cover the Long Beach neighborhoods north and east of downtown, also on Thursdays. The ''Orange County Register'' publishes a total of seventeen community weeklies covering most of Orange County, with the exception of Santa Ana. Spanish-language weeklies include ''Excelsior'' which have two editions for Los Angeles and Orange counties and ''La Prensa'', which covers the Inland Empire. The inland newspapers (''Daily Bulletin'', ''Daily Facts'', ''Press-Enterprise'', and ''Sun'') are further subdivided into the Inland Newspapers Group with combined business operations. The former SGVN newspapers are also operated as an integrated business unit, out of the ''San Gabriel Valley Tribune'' offices in Monrovia (with the Pasadena office serving as a bureau for the greater Pasadena area). The ''Daily Breeze'' and ''Press-Telegram'' also have integrated business operations. The union for the ''Press-Telegram'', which was inherited from Knight-Ridder operation, has criticized the demotion of the ''Press-Telegram'' Long Beach offices to a bureau, with most work done out of the ''Daily Breeze'' in Torrance. In 2021, journalists at all SCNG newspapers organized under the NewsGuild-CWA, and ratified their first contract in November 2024. A compensation study in 2022 found that the median compensation of bargaining unit employees was $51,300, which would be considered low income under federal guidelines for a single person household. Prior to the merger with the Freedom newspapers, LANG identified themselves as editions of the ''Los Angeles Daily News'' in order to make LANG a "Top Ten" media buy as ranked by the

Alliance for Audited Media The Alliance for Audited Media (AAM) is a North American not-for-profit industry organization founded in 1914 by the Association of National Advertisers to help ensure media transparency and trust among advertisers and media companies. Originally ...

. The combined readership of SCNG newspapers is 3.8 million, which if combined would make it the third largest newspaper group in the country. Effective April 1, 2018, all ten daily newspapers covering Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties, along with seventeen community weeklies covering Orange County now identify themselves as editions of the ''Register'' on the front page. On July 10, 2023, SCNG announced it had purchased the San Diego Union Tribune from billionaire owner, Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong, for an undisclosed amount. All SCNG newspapers, as well as the ''Los Angeles Times'', various community newspapers, and regional editions of the ''New York Times'' and ''Wall Street Journal'', are printed from the ''Press-Enterprise'' printers in Riverside.

References

External links

* {{Digital First Media Newspaper companies of the United States Daily newspapers published in Greater Los Angeles Digital First Media MediaNews Group

History

Newspapers

References

Further reading

External links