“On September 25, you’ll begin receiving a free sample of the OC Post, a new topline source of local, national and international news as it impacts OrangeCounty. Please enjoy it with our compliments for 5-weeks.”

Actually, it did not look like the above but more like this.

“ON SEPTEMBER 25, YOU’LL BEGIN RECEIVING A FREE SAMPLE OF THE OC POST, A NEW TOPLINE SOURCE OF LOCAL, NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL NEWS AS IT IMPACTS ORANGE COUNTY. PLEASE ENJOY IT WITH OUR COMPLIMENTS FOR 5-WEEKS.”

The tagline for the OC Post is

“Cut TO FIT your life.”

I found it interesting that the Orange County Register was trying to establish a new brand given the constant supply of news that describes the falling subscription rates for newspaper and much of traditional media.

It seems like a tough row to hoe given all of the new media sources for news and entertainment. Leave it to a newspaper to innovate just enough to likely fail. 

According to Editor and Publisher, a niche audience newspaper format isn’t completely new. “The OC Post is a tab format with condensed news (like Quick in Dallas). It's home delivered (like The Examiner in Washington, D.C.). It skews towards a younger demo (like Redeye in Chicago). What sets the OC Post apart from other niche papers: Readers have to pony up to get it.”

Of course blogs have successfully been using the condensed, niche, home delivery format all along.

No surprise that this will be a paid  subscription product. That is the newspaper way, reiterated by N. Christian Anderson III, editor in chief of the OC Post and publisher of the Register when he stated, "If it were free, [people] would consider it a throw-away." Right, you mean like YouTube and About.com?

On one hand, hats off for trying a new format that looks more like new media – niche, microchunks seeking a younger audience; and for trying to aggregate existing content in a different format (DIGG, TOPIX, etc.) On the other hand, thanks really for nothing and the privilege to pay for it.