Inland Empire in desperate need of its own media

By Lou Desmond

I’ve worked in public relations and public affairs for more than 20 years, 15 of which have been in the Inland Empire. During those early years, I worked extensively with media outlets such as the Business Press, The San Bernardino Sun, The Daily Bulletin and The Press Enterprise to earn coverage for my clients and their projects.

It was very frustrating to me that all of the television news and much of the radio coverage came out of Los Angeles County, which made it extremely challenging to get coverage for Inland Empire-based clients. Occasionally, we still had great successes in breaking through to the L.A. television market. The only talk and news station with an appreciable yet still fairly small audience was KTIE AM590, which for many years, had no appreciable local programming. That is, until I started my program – The Lou Desmond Show – on AM590. The show lasted almost five years, until we parted ways in the first week of January at which time I launched my new program, The Lou Desmond & Company Show, via podcast.

The Inland Empire is its own market and its own entity. We’re frequently lumped together with L.A. via our media yet we’re thought of as a separate area when those in Southern California refer us to – if and when we are mentioned. The only time L.A. media tends to refer to the I.E. is when something tragic happens: a shooting in San Bernardino, a Riverside City Councilman using too much water or a major accident on the 91-freeway in Corona. Very rarely do L.A.- based media outlets give accurate coverage of what’s happening in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties.

Think about it. All of our TV networks are based out of Los Angeles and/or Orange County. The Press Enterprise is now owned and managed by The Orange County Register. The San Bernardino Sun and its subsidiaries – The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin and Redlands Daily Facts – are owned and managed by the Los Angeles News Group. KTIE AM590 is overseen by the network headquarters in Glendale. With the recent closure of the Inland Empire Business Journal, the only locally owned and managed media outlet that is remaining is Inland Empire Business Daily.

When I was hosting The Lou Desmond Show on AM590, I was the only non-syndicated talk show host; I was also the only one who discussed events in the Inland Empire in depth. I focused on the millions of people who work and live in our area.

I’ve worked in various markets, including the Sacramento and Bay areas. Even though Sacramento is incredibly smaller than the Inland Empire, they have their own media market. Those markets support their own media. Because of that, the media really hones in on local politics and local issues. People in those areas are more informed because the media is focused on issues that impact them.

If the Inland Empire had more outlets that focused solely on the happenings in the I.E., the general population – and voters – would be more informed about public policy and decisions that directly impact them. This will lead to better decision-making by voters and more effective public policy.

The world of media is a blur. It’s shifting and changing right now and the pace seems only to be accelerating. The line between publishing and PR/media and spin-doctor seems to have disappeared. Self-publishing, blogging and podcast radio is exploding. The choices are growing but the quality is questionable.

With the state of the media in the Inland Empire, the populace will have to work hard to stay informed but stay informed you must or suffer the consequences you surely will.

Lou Desmond is a public relations professional and the host of The Lou Desmond & Company Show, which is available via podcast at www.iebusinessdaily.com. Follow Lou on Facebook at “The Lou Desmond & Company Show” and on Twitter: @WiseGuyLou.