Charles Gerencser

Born: July 1, 1973 (25)

Publisher

New Times

New Times Los Angeles thinks of itself as an alternative newsweekly that does things a bit differently than the competition. But in April 1998 it took a really unorthodox step, even by New Times standards: It named a 24-year-old ad-sales prodigy as publisher.

Charles N. Gerencser, now 25, is without doubt the youngest publisher of a major newspaper in L.A.

Hal Smith, president and chief operating officer of Phoenix-based New Times Inc., said at the time of Gerencser’s appointment that the young man proved himself to be not only a top salesman, but a leader who devised innovative advertising programs.

Having edited the UC Riverside student newspaper and worked as a stringer for other newspapers, Gerencser thought he was applying for a reporting job when he visited the editor of the alternative weekly LA View in May 1995, right after graduation (with a double degree in business administration and history). Instead, he was asked to take a job cultivating music club advertising.

The one-time bass guitarist for several bands couldn’t resist, and was later promoted to marketing director. When LA View was purchased and shut down by New Times in 1996, Gerencser was one of the few staff members to remain with the company.

“I had other offers from Seattle to New York, but L.A. has everything,” says Gerencser about his decision to accept an initial position selling ads for New Times.

Although the paper still isn’t turning a profit, its sales performance has outpaced other New Times publications in the start-up phase. With a circulation of 115,000, it remains smaller than its primary rival, LA Weekly, but Gerencser boasts of having under 3 percent returns from its distribution points (indicating that people are picking up the paper) and he notes a healthier reader profile than that of the Weekly. “Their readers have green hair, ours have green in their wallets,” he quips.

Active with the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, he also bristles at the way mainstream trade publications dismiss papers like New Times because they’re free. “It chaps my hide, because we do stories daily newspapers won’t run,” Gerencser points out.

Scott Smith