Laguna Beach’s Firebrand Media purchased by Times Media Group

Firebrand Media, the content marketing company that owns the Laguna Beach and Newport Beach Independents, has been acquired by Arizona-based Times Media Group, it was announced by the new owners this week.

Both local publications will be folded into the Arizona publishing group, along with Firebrand’s magazines.

The Laguna Beach Independent was launched in 2003 and was acquired by Firebrand in 2009, the same year the Newport Beach Independent was started.

Steve Zepezauer, Firebrand’s chief executive, said the sale was made official on July 1 and that employees were notified the same day of the change in ownership.

In a statement on the acquisition, Steve Strickbine, founder and president of Times Media Group, said he was pleased to be adding Firebrand and its products to the company, which already included the Capistrano Dispatch, the Dana Point Times and the San Clemente Times, all of which were acquired from Picket Fence Media last August.

“I couldn’t be more thrilled to add the Firebrand team and its great products to Times Media Group,” Strickbine said in a statement.

“Firebrand’s commitment to excellence and good journalism make them a perfect fit for partnering and moving forward with our overall growth plans,” he continued. “Add to that the custom publishing arm of their business, and Firebrand introduces a whole new set of opportunities for us to bring value to our advertisers and readers.”

Zepezauer, who will be serve as director of custom publishing for TMG, said it’s the intention for Firebrand to remain in its Glenneyre Street office in Laguna Beach, adding the acquisition would allow for more assets to be put into the brand’s core business units.

“I’ve been open to a sale or merger for a couple years and this was a great opportunity to join an organization that values local journalism as much as we do. It was also important that I stayed on with the company and be a part of the overall growth plans for TMG in both community journalism and custom publishing,” Zepezauer said in an email.

“I’m especially looking forward to seeing both Laguna Beach Independent and Newport Beach Independent thrive with the additional editorial and sales support.”

Some freelancers for the paper are cautiously optimistic about the sale.

Barbara McMurray, who writes features for the Laguna Beach Independent, said she was hopeful that those employed would be able to keep their jobs and that the change would bolster the editorial side of the weekly.

“I remember when ... there were different people and beats. We had education, city, fire, police, sports — I’d love to see it get back to that. I’m hoping for the best and I’m hoping that [Times Media Group] will give some good, strong financial footing so that it can continue on,” said McMurray. “We need our local paper and we need it to have more factual news stories. I’m just as guilty. I write features.

“Clara [Beard, the managing editor,] does her best, given the constraints, but ... in this town, you really have to dig to understand the important issues. You need to pay attention to City Council. You need to read the staff reports to really fully understand and no one really has the time to do that and that’s the service that a local newspaper should be providing. Someone has to put in a lot of time uncovering that and the local papers are really where people’s lives are lived,” she said.

Opinion columnist Billy Fried said he’s been writing for the Laguna Beach Independent for more than 10 years and he agreed with McMurray’s take. He commended the papers for sticking it out as they did against changes in publishing and the turbulent news industry. He said he was hopeful the purchase means more resources can be put behind the editorial team for the paper’s success.

But, those at the Orange County Press Club have raised concerns about the purchase, pointing to lay-offs that happened after TMG bought Picket Fence Media.

“I’m concerned about this acquisition because of what we saw at Picket Fence Media where, following TMG’s acquisition, staff at Picket Fence were laid off,” said Brandon Pho, president of the OC Press Club’s board of directors. “Before Picket Fence was acquired, all three of the local papers were more distinct and had their own reporters and a managing editor. After the purchase, there were fewer staffers and a lot of their positions seemed to be replaced by freelancers.”

Zepezauer said Wednesday that there were no planned layoffs.