Billionaire oilman Phil Anschutz, who bought the San Francisco Examiner in 2004, is planning to launch another Examiner in Los Angeles, Media Life Magazine reports on its online edition. Media Life attributed its information to a “newspaper industry source familiar with the growth plans of parent Clarity Media Group,” owned by Anschutz.

Like his San Francisco paper, the Los Angeles paper would be free and tabloid-sized. Anschutz also has Examiners in Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, and a second San Francisco free daily called The City Star.

The Examiner, with its Republican viewpoint on the editorial page, would provide a contrast to the L.A. Times, which sides more often with Democrats.

The Press Club Web site reported on Feb. 15, 2006 that Anschutz’s Clarity Media registered the URL LosAngelesExaminer.com, but Clarity said nothing was planned. Still, the name Los Angeles Examiner brings back memories of newspapers long gone. William Randolph Hearst founded the Los Angeles Examiner in 1922. In 1962, it merged with the Herald Express. The merged Los Angeles Herald Examiner survived until 1989.