Santa Barbara News-Press Files For Chapter 7 Bankruptcy And Ends Publication

Ted Johnson
·2 min read
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The Santa Barbara News-Press, which bills itself as the longest running daily newspaper in Southern California, has ceased publication.

Ampersand Publishing LLC, the entity that owns the paper, filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, or liquidation, on Friday, with estimated assets of up to $50,000 and liabilities between $1,000,001 and $10 million, according to court records. The bankruptcy was approved by the LLC on May 1, with Wendy McCaw, who has owned the paper since 2000, as the authorized agent.

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The News-Press went all digital a month ago, and its website currently features no stories since Friday.

The Santa Barbara Independent reported that Managing Editor Dave Mason wrote in an email to employees, “I have some bad news. Wendy filed for bankruptcy on Friday. All of our jobs are eliminated, and the News-Press has stopped publishing. They ran out of money to pay us. They will issue final paychecks when the bankruptcy is approved in court.”

The News-Press has published for more than 150 years, but it has undergone years of turbulence since McCaw bought it from The New York Times Co. In 2006, six editors and a columnist resigned in protest of interference from McCaw in the editorial process. The was followed by an exodus of dozens of additional staffers, as well as a vote by remaining newsroom employees to unionize with the Teamsters.

The attorney representing Ampersand did not immediately return a request for comment.

The News-Press’s bankruptcy filing comes amid ever-increasing troubles for medium- and large- sized city papers in general, struggling with the loss of multiple advertising bases not rectified with the move to digital. Lawmakers in Washington, D.C. have held multiple hearings on the demise of local media, but legislation to try to boost publishers against tech giants have yet to advance to the House or Senate floor.

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