NOLA Media Group will open B.R. office downtown

NOLA Media Group announced this afternoon that it’s planning to open a new bureau in downtown Baton Rouge, but the publisher of The Times-Picayune and operator of Nola.com did not disclose a specific location. “With this move, NOLA Media Group seeks to expand and improve news, sports and entertainment coverage in the Baton Rouge area,” reads The Times-Picayune‘s report. A customized Baton Rouge version of the NOLA.com website and a Baton Rouge edition of The Times-Picayune, as well as targeted home delivery in the Baton Rouge metro area, will be in place by the end of the year, says Ricky Mathews, NOLA Media Group president. The company will also make available for purchase in Baton Rouge the new “Black and Gold Extra” publication to be printed after Saints games on days The Times-Picayune doesn’t publish a print edition. The “Black and Gold Extra” launches Oct. 1 with complete coverage of the Saints game against the Green Bay Packers and other NFL coverage. “In areas of state politics and LSU sports, we have a long-established media presence in Baton Rouge,” Mathews says. “Many in Baton Rouge also follow our award-winning coverage of the New Orleans Saints and the New Orleans Hornets. And since Hurricane Katrina, the cultural and commercial connections between our sister cities have grown even stronger.” Reporters are being hired in Baton Rouge for coverage of politics, entertainment, local news, and high school and college sports, he adds. Read the full story here.