MediaNews extends paywalls

MediaNews Group today announced that 23 of its paper will go behind digital paywalls - at least part way. The affected papers include two in Southern California, the Whittier Daily News and the Redlands Daily Facts. Print subscribers will be charged $1.99 a month or $19.99 a year for full access; digital-only subscriptions cost $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year.

Under the plan, online home pages, obits and classified ads will remain free. Business, feature, and sport stories go behind the walls. This is an extension of the experiment MediaNews started last year in Chico, California and York, Pennsylvania.

My sense is the papers will depend on prep sports to drive print subscribers to pay a little extra. The papers are also some of the smallest in the MediaNews universe.

Here's how MediaNews is selling the paywall:

Our new digital business model reflects the high value we place on professional journalism and helps us to fund our local reporting at a time of unprecedented change in the way people use and consume news and information.

More moves in LANGland

Frank Pine has been named the new general manager of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin. Pine already served as executive editor of the Bulletin, a role he'll continue, and is executive editor of the Bulletin's sister paper, the San Bernardino Sun.

Pine replaces Peggy Del Torro, who took over as general manager of the Redlands Daily Facts.

New masthead in Redlands

The Redlands Daily Facts, which is part of Dean Singleton's LANG chain, announced a new general manager and managing editor. From the story:

Peggy del Toro was named general manager of the Facts, and Christina Brock was named managing editor.

"I'm very proud of this team," said Fred Hamilton, publisher and CEO of the Los Angeles Newspaper Group, which includes the Facts. "Peggy del Toro's broad experience in local newspapers and passion for community news is a perfect fit for Redlands. Chris Brock is incredibly talented and a native of the East Valley. I'm confident these two will achieve great things in Redlands."

Del Toro most recently served as president and general manager of the Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the Facts' sister newspaper in Ontario. Del Toro was general manager of the Facts prior to her assignment in Ontario, where she spent most of her career.

Brock has held positions at the Bulletin and The Sun, most recently serving as business editor for both newspapers.

Circulation down in the IE

Daily newspapers covering the Inland Empire saw significant declines in circulation over the last six months, according to the latest ABC survey. The Riverside Press-Enterprise dropped 14.6 percent, putting the Monday through Friday circulation at 140,079 and the Sunday circulation at 147,339.

The P-E, which has suffered several rounds of layoffs in recent weeks, touted a 5-percent gain in its "total audience" share, which includes online readers.

The Press-Enterprise also reported drops in circulation for its main competitors, but did not include any online-audience numbers in the story. From the P-E:

The San Bernardino Sun, owned by Media News Group, saw circulation decline 8 percent to 49,952 Monday through Friday and 3.4 percent to 55,746 on Sunday.

The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin, the Media News paper in Ontario, dropped 9.1 percent to 48,954 weekdays and 10.8 percent to 52,616 on Sunday.

Redlands Daily Facts, also owned by Media News, dropped 2.5 percent to 6,916 weekdays and 2 percent to 7,012 Sundays.

I haven't seen numbers for the rest of LANG yet.

The average drop in print circulation nationwide was 7.1 percent.