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Podcasts Take Two
LA Weekly is being sold to mysterious Semanal Media
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Oct 20, 2017
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LA Weekly is being sold to mysterious Semanal Media
Media analyst Ken Doctor says alternative newspapers like the LA Weekly have struggled to adapt in a digital world.
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Media analyst Ken Doctor says alternative newspapers like the LA Weekly have struggled to adapt in a digital world.

Voice Media Group announced a deal earlier this week to sell the LA Weekly to an unknown company called Semanal Media. The deal follows the company's sale of the OC Weekly last year, and a handful of other alternative city papers throughout the country.

What's to blame?  The Internet, of course. Ken Doctor is a media analyst with Newsonomics. He joined Take Two to talk about the sale of the LA Weekly, which began in the 1970s as an alternative to traditional newspapers, running edgier, more opinionated stories about culture and things to do in the city. Weeklies haven't been doing so well recently, Doctor says.

To hear our interview with media analyst Ken Doctor about what else is contributing to the demise of the country's alternative weeklies, click the blue media player.