1. Define the geographic boundary before discussing news
Phelan is a census-designated place in San Bernardino County. A Phelan page, a San Bernardino County page, a California-wide legal development, and a page about a nearby incident are not interchangeable. Legal News is described as matching stories to a firm’s practice areas and state, while the firm controls approval. That makes geographic judgment part of the service decision. A firm should decide whether its audience is limited to Phelan, includes other San Bernardino County communities, or covers a wider California service area. Do not use the Phelan population estimate as a proxy for the number of people searching, the number of potential clients, or the amount of news worth publishing.
Recommended approach
Write a geographic policy before evaluating examples. For each proposed page, record the place named in the story, the people legally affected, the firm’s service area, and whether the page should use Phelan, San Bernardino County, California, or no local modifier. Ask Bosseo to show how that geographic distinction would be handled during consultation.
