Profile: Inland Empire Business Journal

Editorial Design

The Inland Empire Business Journal delivers a four-tiered editorial format to satisfy the local decision maker's need for local in-depth business news:

1. FRONT PAGE NEWS - consists of in-depth local business news; it is timely and informative. It often scoops the daily newspaper because of the extra time that goes into in-depth, interpretative coverage.

    

2. PEOPLE SIDE OF LOCAL BUSINESS - highlights local business personalities and their successes, which includes entrepreneur, company close-up, and people in the news.

    

3. STATISTICAL DATA - is a reporting on local business mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, company earnings, expansions and new products; local company personnel promotions. There is also a listing and ranking of a local category of a business in each issue.

    

4. FOCUS EDITIONS - valuable reference information that is often clipped out and saved, reports on a specific industry and gives in-depth analysis such as banking and finance, high tech electronics, real estate development and health care.

    

Filling the Void

Most Business Journals got their start in the boom years of the late 1970s and early 1980s. This explosive growth was fueled by the realization of the importance of small business to the American economy. Many national business magazines were established, and daily newspapers launched expanded business news sections to fulfill this need. These sections offered more news -- but not necessarily the new and information needed by business executives to effectively run their businesses. Business journals today are perceived as a "must read." The business journals report on small companies and industries that have been overlooked by other media. They focus on the local movers and shakers and serve as a unique reference by which to gauge the vitality of the local business economy. And as business journals have grown in following and influence, they have taken on the role of being the advocate for change in the business community.

The Product

Often described as a hybrid of a newspaper and a magazine, business journals provide a local newspaper focus with the aesthetics of a magazine. Business journals are written, edited and published in the communities they serve, their tabloid size and modular layout aid busy executives in finding the information they need.

Business journals have been recognized by national media for breaking local stories that carry national implications. They frequently receive awards from local and national press associations for outstanding business reporting.

The Reader

Business journal readership skews toward top executives possessing significant personal and business purchasing power. According to Erdos and Morgan, the profile of the typical reader is shown: