Publication analysis
About the publication
Title: Press-Telegram
ISSN: N/A
Website: http://www.presstelegram.com/
Purpose, objective, or mission: The purpose of the Press-Telegram is to provide news and information of interest to local constituents.1
Target audience: Residents of Long Beach and the surrounding areas.2
Publisher: MediaNews Group, Inc.3
Peer reviewed? No.4
Type: Civilian newspaper.5
Medium: Print and online.6
Content: General information relevant to citizens of the Long Beach and Orange County area. Includes varied content such as: sports, entertainment, business, religion, travel, lifestyles, obituaries, and special sections. This newspaper also includes information at the global, national, state, and local levels.7
Frequency of publication: Daily.8
About the publication’s submission guidelines
Location of submission guidelines: http://www.presstelegram.com/share-your-news
Types of contributions accepted: Letters to the editor are accepted on all issues of public concern. From their Share Your News section: “Letters must include the writer’s home community and a daytime phone number for confirmation. Please limit submissions to 150 words and send via email (without attachments) to speakout [at] presstelegram.com.”9 Guest commentaries of no more than 600 words are also considered for publication. “We look for topical commentary on public policy and social issues that are of general interest to our print and digital readership. We give preference to local, regional and California topics and writers.”10 “Email your submission to opinion [at] langnews.com with the subject line “Op-ed submission.” Include a sentence or two at the end including your position, city or community of residence, and any background relevant to your expertise in the topic.”11
Editorial tone: Not specified.
Style guide used: None specified.
Conclusion: Evaluation of publication’s potential for LIS authors
This newspaper lends itself to publishing local LIS-related issues. LIS practitioners and students living in the covered area should consider submitting opinion pieces of local library issues. Topics may include: Long Beach library improvement initiative, Long Beach library special events, or a review of past public programming. Library-themed articles or letters may be published in this newspaper; however, they must be focused on local library issues and be free of library jargon in order to reach the public.
Audience analysis
About the publication’s readers
Publication circulation: 15,000 daily; 29,000 Sunday, with 699,000 unique monthly visitors to the website.12
Audience location and language or cultural considerations: The Press-Telegram market covers the Greater Long Beach Area including the communities of the Artesia, Bell, Bellflower, Carson, Cerritos, Compton, Cypress, Downey, Hawaiian Gardens, Huntington Park, La Mirada, Lakewood, Long Beach, Los Alamitos, Lynwood, Norwalk, Paramount, Pico Rivera, San Pedro, Santa Fe Springs, Seal Beach, Signal Hill, South Gate, and Wilmington.13 Although this is a local newspaper, it does tackle state, national, and global issues. However, these issues tend to be related in some fashion to the local audience. Although this newspaper is written in English, part of its audience is the large Hispanic community residing in the marketed cities. In addition, it includes information relevant to the Cambodian community because Long Beach has the largest Cambodian population in the United States.14
Reader characteristics: Readers are 51% female and 49% male with a median age of 38 years old. 51% of readers are Hispanic and 59% have a college education. The average household income $98,370. 15 The Press-Telegram readers likely do not have established opinions about library science subjects because they are not library professionals. This publication, much like the city of Long Beach and the Greater Long Beach Area, is much more progressive in nature due to its culturally diverse demographics.
Knowledge of LIS subject matter: After reviewing various articles in the Press-Telegram, it is clear that they do not specifically tackle library and information science issues, however, they will publicize events and news relevant to the local Long Beach public library or other libraries in the surrounding cities. It is very likely that the layperson will not understand library jargon, so technical terms are discouraged when attempting to publish in this newspaper.
Conclusion: Analysis of reader characteristics and their potential impact on authors
The readers of this publication are culturally diverse and do not share a similar type of job. When writing for this audience it is important to keep in mind that this is a progressive audience who cares about state, national, and global issues.
Last updated: September 14, 2020
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