The Advocate news giant provides news coverage in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Acadiana and Lake Charles.
The publisher, Judi Terzotis, touts Shreveport-Bossier as a vibrant area, She says her publications want to help tell the stories on this area.
As part of the effort to expand The Advocate's coverage to this area, The Advocate has held several meetings to receive public input from local "key players."
Reportedly, one of the meetings discussed the possibility of the formation of a foundation to subsidize the planned expansion by The Advocate into this area.
The foundation would be funded by contributions from local leaders and businesses, including the Community Foundation, AEP/SWEPCO, LSU Health Science Center and Ochsner.
Non-profit foundations have been organized in other areas of the country to establish local news organizations.
For the most part, the news organizations are dedicated to objective, non-biased reporting.
To date, the success of these ventures has been mixed, with substantial questions about the long-term viability of their organizations.
According to other reports, The Advocate meetings were also intended to test the waters for future advertisers in the local area.
The plans for the expansion include dedicating up to five reporters to provide news coverage. This staff will most probably be based on south Louisiana, not locally.
The Bossier Press Tribune provides excellent coverage of Bossier City and Parish. This paper has online content daily and publishes a weekly paper edition.
This paper, FOCUS SB/The Inquisitor, publishes once weekly, and it provides news of Shreveport Bossier.
Both the Press Tribune and The Inquisitor, which is now FOCUS SB/The Inquisitor, have been in this market for many, many years, hiring local people and supporting local citizens, organizations and businesses.
Neither of these papers have asked for a handout from local/state businesses to subsidize their business operations.
Both of these papers could widely expand coverage with additional advertisers and/or funding from a foundation.
The staffs of both papers have been in this community for many, many years, and they know the back stories on many local groups, organizations and political players.
Additionally, they have worked hard to establish contacts throughout the area to build their news base.
Competition is good for any business, including the news business.
So are equal playing fields.
If local consumers want more hard news coverage, they can look locally versus going down south.
And to top it off, they can visit the local offices of both publications and interact directly with those providing the news coverage.