The Onion rings in L.A. edition with local sections, advertising.

SHOULD a responsible journalist take a press release from the Onion seriously? Recently the humor paper--famous for its stories about non-existent subjects peppered with made-up quotes from fictitious sources--circulated an announcement that it would start a Los Angeles edition this month.

Everything inside the Onion may be bogus, but several L.A. newsstand sightings have confirmed that the expansion plan is legit. Law enforcement should heed the warning of Editor-in-Chief Scott Dikkers when he declares: "We hope that every commuter in L.A. will read the Onion every day while driving."

The weekly will appear in more than 1,200 retail locations including restaurants, bars, gyms and music stores. In addition, the paper will have 100 street boxes concentrated in Hollywood, West Hollywood, Santa Monica, Venice, Silver Lake, Echo Park, Los Feliz and surrounding the UCLA and USC campuses. The Onion distributes for free every Thursday officially, although it often reaches the newsstands by Wednesday afternoon.

Besides the main section of the paper, which duplicates the editorial content of the Onion in seven other cities, the L.A. edition has two sections of local interest. The A.V. Club section has reviews of films, music, television, books, video games and DVDs. The column Hater looks at the ridiculous side of celebrity news. Another section focuses on the local scene with nightlife listings and cultural events.

The Onion accepts both local and national advertising. Nationally, more than 4 million people read theOnion.com each month, while more than 3 million read it in print. According to Rob Bedell, sales manager for the Los Angeles edition, a buy in the Onion delivers an audience with an average age in the early 30s with at least a college education and often an advanced degree.

"We describe our audience as over-educated, overpaid money-squandering fools, and they enjoy being called that," Bedell said. "Everyone really wants to join that demographic."

Local ads can appear anywhere in the paper, depending on what works best for the advertiser, according to Bedell. The Los Angeles edition starts with a circulation of 50,000.

Staff reporter Joel Russell can be reached at [phone], ext. 237, or at [e-mail].