For Sale: OC Weekly Magazine

Orange County’s and Belmont Shore’s Alt Weekly is on the market.

The OC Weekly’s owner Voice Media Group announced this week that it has hired a firm to find potential buyers of the weekly magazine, which has been an OC fixture since 1995.

According to the company’s press release, “Since its founding in 1995, the scrappy Weekly has won dozens of journalism awards and established itself as the leading alternative voice in Orange County and Long Beach, serving more than 225,000 young, active readers with the region’s hardest-hitting investigative reporting and cultural commentary. Its irreverent and intelligent coverage includes the syndicated “Ask a Mexican” column by editor Gustavo Arellano, as well as the popular news blog “Navel Gazing” and spirited music, food and arts reporting.”

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In a column announcing the sale, Arellano, the Weekly’s editor, wrote, “We’ve been comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable for nearly 20 years, and we plan to do so no matter who may be our eventual papi or mami.”

Among the Orange County notables targeted for affliction over the years, The OC Weekly has dogged the foibles, scandals, crimes or hijinks of Rev. Lou Sheldon, Rapist Greg Haidl and his millionaire dad Don Haidl, Convicted former OC Sheriff Mike Carona, The Minutemen and Orange County Register Owner Aaron Kushner.

The OC Weekly is known for its coverage of the arts and music scene, political news with a dash of snark and the syndicated column “Ask A Mexican.”

It’s been a tumultuous time for news outlets in Orange County these days. Last year, Patch.com underwent a change of ownership, and the Orange County Register was sold in 2012 and briefly expanded into Long Beach and Los Angeles before several rounds of layoffs - all chronicled by the OC Weekly.

If you want to buy the OC Weekly, call Dirks, Van Essen & Murray at 505-820-2700.

TELL US WHAT YOU THINK IN THE COMMENTS: Do you read the OC Weekly? How has all the change in local media ownership affected you?

Photo Credit: OC Weekly screengrab