Irvine Spectrum Focus of New Publications

Publishers of two new publications for and about the Irvine Spectrum say their emergence signals the coming of age of Orange County’s high-profile business center.

The biweekly tabloid Irvine Spectrum News, a companion publication to the 27-year-old Irvine World News, published its first issue this month with a circulation of 15,000. It will cover business and technology news from the area’s companies and UC Irvine, said publisher Brien Manning.

“It’s an idea that’s had many years of consideration,” he said, noting that most Spectrum-based workers don’t live in Irvine and are probably less interested in the community-based coverage of Irvine World News. Some stories, such as the debate over a proposed airport at El Toro, might be used in both publications, he said.

But business profiles, reports on university research, and issues common to high-tech businesses would likely appeal to potential readers of Spectrum News, he said. “Our intent is to do a better job of creating a sense of place and sense of community out there.”

Separately, the Irvine Co. is sponsoring an Internet news magazine, Irvine Spectrum Focus, for the more than 2,200 firms in the business complex. Also debuting this month, the biweekly online publication plans articles on the “players and personalities” behind the region’s businesses, as well as their products and technologies.

The Spectrum is considered a major hub of Southern California’s “tech coast,” but “one of the elements that seemed to be missing was a sense of collaboration, of interaction among the companies,” publisher Todd Nicholson said.