For more than a century, the Santa Barbara News-Press was the go-to, daily newspaper for many people across the South Coast. That all came to an end on Friday, when parent company Ampersand Publishing filed for bankruptcy, halting News-Press publications.
“I had been a subscriber almost the entire time, except when I was in the service,” said Charles Enasko, a longtime local reader of the Santa Barbara News-Press.
“It is one less source for people to get news on the issues they care about,” added Marjorie Kruvand, who worked in print journalism for much of her career.
Kruvand says she also taught journalism courses at UC Santa Barbara before she retired. To her, the Santa Barbara News-Press filing for bankruptcy is a sign of the dwindling industry.
“All over the country, there has been a huge drop in the number of newspapers, and anyone who grew up as a former 'ink-stained wretch' like me — that is what we call people in the print journalism business — it is actually really sad,” she told KSBY.
Other longtime News-Press readers say the newspaper has changed under new ownership.
“I have been waiting for it to happen,” said Cindy Siegert of Goleta. “I think that when Wendy McCaw took over the News-Press years ago, I saw a huge decline in neutral news, meaning providing both a liberal and a conservative viewpoint.”
KSBY News attempted to contact Santa Barbara News-Press owner Wendy McCaw for comment but did not hear back.
In Ampersand Publishing’s declaration of bankruptcy, the company stated it had assets of less than $50,000, along with liabilities of up to $10,000,000.
Charles Enasko read the News-Press for decades and says he has also noticed a change in recent years.
“There were funnies, there were magazines, they had a great sports section, business sections, everything. And then, over the years, it had turned into less of a newspaper,” Enasko said.
Meanwhile, Siegert says she is hopeful the Santa Barbara News-Press will find a way to continue.
“I just hope someone will buy it and consider taking it over and that we can keep the tradition of the Santa Barbara News-Press going because it would be a historical sadness that we lose something that Thomas Stork created,” she added.
KSBY News also reached out to News-Press managing editor Dave Mason and other publication contributors for comment but did not hear back.
