I never heard that one. Spent most of my adult life on the West Coast.
Although I never dropped in to the Washington Square Bar and Grill (the Washbag) to see if I could hornswaggle my way into sharing a drink with the guy, for a while I was acquainted with Herb Caen's gossipy three-dot journalism (SF Chronicle), and could buy an LA Times on most any street corner that either did, or did not also sell the Chronicle.
I did not live near the City, or L.A. either, but could end up being briefly in those places, upon occasion.
I always referred to the Dallas Morning News as the Dallas Morning Snooze.
The stories and editorials were guaranteed to put you to sleep. imo.
We called it the Startle-gram during the impeachment wars. :)