When the Daily Breeze won the Pulitzer Prize in 2015, Bill Van Laningham was behind the scenes, looking for ways to let the community know.
He knew powerful journalism when he saw it: This was the Heisman Trophy. The Academy Award. A chance to show off a local newsroom’s work.
Van Laningham created promotional ads, reached out to community leaders, connected with trade publications, and built a marketing campaign. He even had giant beachball-sized Pulitzer medallion stickers made and placed on the front of the Breeze’s Torrance headquarters.
“I wanted everybody who went to that building, who saw it, especially the people who worked for us to know that these guys won the Pulitzer,” he said.
A small newsroom proved it could still be big on the kind of dogged, focused, number-driven investigative reporting that can change institutions for the better by making them more accountable.
Van Laningham understood. An athlete his entire life, sports metaphors and big-game moments run through his blood. He was reminded that “the little guy can punch up.”
For 43 years, Van Laningham, 66, captured memorable moments, linked up with scores of community leaders, pitched armies of advertisers and connected with countless news consumers. He retires June 30 from his role as the Southern California News Group’s vice president of marketing.
Bill Van Laningham, Vice President of Marketing for the Southern California News Group, speaks during the Register’s Athletes and Coaches of the Year Banquet at the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)
His departure marks a transition within the company, the company where he spent his entire 43-year career, as Caroline Wong, SCNG’s senior director of communications and custom content, succeeds him.
That length of time with one company is no small feat, especially in an industry in which ownership shifts, financial obstacle courses and relentless change are all part of the landscape.
But Van Laningham has stayed put — making a mark for decades, becoming a familiar face in the massive Los Angeles-area media market.
“No one was willing to trade for me,” displaying a wry, dry humor that has served him and his collaborators well.
At its core, Van Laningham’s job was to promote the company and more than a dozen Southern California-area newspapers and websites, tapping events, partnerships and, of course, SCNG content and services — which for decades have been focused on covering local communities throughout Southern California.
Growing up in the Woodland Hills of the 1970s, Van Laningham was no stranger to the Los Angeles Daily News and the Valley Green Sheet that preceded it. An athlete in his youth, he played football, baseball and more, and he admired L.A. journalists who covered sports.
He once threw a no-hitter — which landed him on the cover of the Green Sheet sports section and showed him the power of a local paper.
After studying journalism at San Diego State, a 24-year-old Van Laningham took the first job he could get — back home in the San Fernando Valley, where the then-Tribune Co.-owned L.A. Daily News operated its printing press and offices from Van Nuys.
“For me it’s always been very simple. It’s local news. There are other people who say they do local news, but they don’t. We do local news.” – Bill Van Laningham
It was March, 1981. The L.A. Daily News, which served up San Fernando Valley news, fostered significant connections with advertisers, businesses and big-name pro sports teams in the area.
He was hired to work on special sections — specialized content that supplemented newspaper pages.
It didn’t hurt that not long after he was hired, the L.A. Daily News partnered with the Dodgers for a supplement, “Dodger Blue,” that became “the official newspaper” of the L.A. Dodgers — using promotional content and stories picked up from around Southern California, including pieces on the team’s minor league affiliates.
“It taught me how to put a newspaper together … I had to do everything. I had to work with a composing room. I had to typeset. I had to layout and design sections. I had to write copy, size photos, write captions, and get a section from start to finish to production,” he said. “I learned the business that way.”
Steve Brener, who was director of publicity for the Dodgers, said Van Laningham’s creative ideas were key in marketing collaborations between the team and the newspaper. And he was persuasive.
“He had a great creative mind and was a great salesman,” Brener said. “And he was very dedicated to the Daily News and then to SCNG.”
All the while, he was making connections with other departments, still with an eye toward working in the newsroom. They were bonds that proved helpful when the marketing department ultimately offered him a job.
That early stint focused on special sections paved the way for his future, “and I never looked back,” he said.
He learned how to craft a recipe of audience engagement, marketing and sponsored events — all geared to raise the profile of the newspaper and build readership for a brand operating in a fiercely competitive L.A. market.
He organized high school all-star games, spelling bees, fan events with L.A. sports teams and pro-tennis exhibitions in the Valley.
“We were aggressive in news coverage, ad sales and marketing the newspaper,” he said, “and very, very aggressive in community involvement and attaching ourselves to the movers and shakers of the San Fernando Valley.”
Dennis McCarthy, a young, sharp-witted writer who would become an award-winning columnist for the L.A. Daily News was hired a month after Van Laningham.
They struck up a lasting friendship, bonding on the tennis court where they’d often spend their lunch breaks. Ultimately, the pair — each from a different end of newspaper operations — became stalwarts for the paper as they aimed to elevate the profile of the Daily News.
“He just connected with people,” McCarthy said. “He was a natural for that position.”
As the news organization grew, so did Van Laningham’s role. He worked under multiple owners — from Tribune Co. to Jack Kent Cooke to Media News Group — all linked to a business that now covers publications in five counties.
In recent years, his role continued to evolve, still promoting the journalism, but focused on forging a future in the swiftly shifting digital age. Much of the marketing strategy is still in person, he said. But sponsored events are more targeted and customized these days, he said.
“It’s a lot of moving parts,” he said. “You’ve just got to make sure there’s a significant return doing that. We try to focus on those more tangible type of returns.”
Kyla Rodriguez, SCNG’s senior vice president of advertising, said Van Laningham’s creativity and experience have been vital. His dry wit added “a level of humor to every situation,” even when daunting, she said, which was appreciated.
Ron Hasse, publisher of the Southern California News Group, echoed Rodriguez in a recent note to the group’s marketing department announcing Van Laningham’s retirement.
“His profound understanding of the industry landscape, coupled with his innovative approach to community marketing, has been instrumental in shaping our company’s identity and success,” said Hasse, noting his longtime connection within the news group.
Bill Van Laningham, Vice President of Marketing for the Southern California News Group, speaks during the Register’s Athletes and Coaches of the Year Banquet at the Marconi Automotive Museum in Tustin on Wednesday, June 12, 2019. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Frank Pine, Media News Group’s executive editor, said “Bill has always been an excellent partner to the newsroom and an advocate for our journalism. He’s clever and creative and has masterminded many great campaigns over the years. Not just a colleague, he’s also a friend.”
Hasse also announced that Wong, whose media career has taken her from New York to L.A., will succeed Van Laningham, to oversee marketing strategy and creative services for SCNG and the San Diego Union-Tribune.
“I love cheerleading for local news,” she said. “In my mind it’s an easy product to get behind and shout the virtues of.”
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Van Laningham, meanwhile, is putting away his megaphone. He is looking forward to retirement — but with no big plans. It’ll be nice not to have multiple deadlines, he said.
His wife, Elisa Van Laningham — who also had a long career in L.A. media and nonprofits — will be retiring in early July.
“For me it’s always been very simple. It’s local news,” Van Laningham said. “There are other people who say they do local news, but they don’t. We do local news.”