Real estate ads ignite boomlet for community papers in L.A.

NOT every newspaper faces declining advertising. Several weekly and monthly community papers appear to be thriving, fattening up on real estate advertising and launching new editions.

Core Media Group Inc. has launched weekly newspapers in Burbank and La Canada Flintridge, adding to its stable of weekly and twice-weekly publications in Arcadia, Monrovia, Sierra Madre, Pasadena and Glendale.

Core Media also is drawing up plans for a weekly newspaper in Eagle Rock, one of the county's most crowded local newspaper markets. That area is served by Eastern Group Publications' Northeast Sun, the independently owned Eagle Rock Post and Highland Park News, Wave Newspaper Group's News Herald & Journal, and the independently owned monthly Boulevard Sentinel.

One of the larger county publishers with 10 local papers, Eastern Group, acknowledged the importance of northeast Los Angeles by moving its headquarters from Commerce to Highland Park. Northeast L.A. has a booming retail climate that is loyal to local papers, according to Jonathan Sanchez, Eastern Group's vice president.

And the Boulevard Sentinel marked a milestone on its eighth anniversary in May by publishing its first-ever issue in color and its largest issue at 24 pages. Publisher Tom Topping said local real-estate agents are demanding full-color photos of California bungalows that now fetch $500,000.

Johnathan Gorman, vice president of business development for privately owned Core Media, said he is optimistic about the future of small, community newspapers. "Publishing news in a weekly basis is a lot different from having to do a daily. People are always going to want to have a local newspaper," he said.