Santa Barbara depended for decades on its daily newspaper, the Santa Barbara News-Press, to inform and empower residents.
That legacy ended two years ago when the news organization declared bankruptcy and ended more than 150 years of storytelling history, its waning years marked by controversy and conflict around editorial policies.
But now, the News-Press is reemerging as a nonprofit news source dedicated to serving its community. The goal is to add to the area’s journalism landscape and amplify the needs, ideas and voices of its people.
The new News-Press will be under the auspices of NEWSWELL, a news nonprofit that’s part of Arizona State University Media Enterprise that aims to transform local news to help communities and democracy thrive.
It is intended to be a fresh start.
I’m B.J. Terhune, the managing editor for California for NEWSWELL, and we are ready to craft a new chapter of the News-Press — with your help.
We don’t want to duplicate good work already being done in the area. Our goal is to identify gaps in news coverage so we can work with local reporters and editors, as well as community partners, to meet those needs.
To that end, what types of news and information do you want more of in Santa Barbara? How do you like to receive it? What topics or areas need or deserve more attention?
We are eager to hear from you and would love if you would take a brief survey to provide your input. The information is also available in Spanish.
We also have scheduled several listening sessions with residents across Santa Barbara County.
La Fiesta Pequeña dancers perform on the opening night of Santa Barbara’s Old Spanish Days in 2014. (File photo by Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara News-Press) 
UC Santa Barbara’s Jacoby Atako splits four Cal State Long Beach defenders in the first half of a 2006 game at the Thunderdome. (File photo by Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara News-Press) 
Taking part in the 2014 Summer Solstice Parade on State Street in downtown Santa Barbara are Alice in Wonderland characters Darla Bea and Kathleen Modugno as the Queen of Hearts, along with the Card Guard, Ted Coe, and the White Rabbit, Kristy Torgeson. (File photo by Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara News-Press) 
UC Santa Barbara protesters opposed to the war in Iran block Highway 217 near Sandspit Road in 2007. (File photo by Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara News-Press) 
With temperatures nearing 100 degrees, people cool off at the watering hole near the Live Oak day-use site along Paradise Road in the Los Padres National Forest in 2009. (File photo by Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara News-Press) 
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Department SWAT team trains in 2003 in the former Gold’s Gym in Goleta. The skylights had been painted over in blue and red to darken the rooms even more. (File photo by Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara News-Press) 
Firefighters battle a blaze that destroyed multiple Santa Barbara businesses and much of Stearns Wharf in 1998. (File photo by Mike Eliason/Santa Barbara News-Press)
For Nicole Carroll, executive director of NEWSWELL and former editor-in-chief of USA TODAY, it’s all about expanding local news and information. “It’s wonderful that Santa Barbara has trusted local news sources,” she said. “We want to add to that. In an area of this size and complexity, we can help tell more stories, cover more communities, connect more people. We hope to partner with existing media along the way.
“Getting more news and information to more people is a good thing.”
Why?
“There is trust in local news,” she said. “Local news decreases political divisiveness and knits together disparate communities. Local news readers are more likely to know their neighbors. They’re more active in their communities. They’re more likely to vote. This isn’t just what journalists think — extensive research proves it.”
NEWSWELL has already partnered with nine other news sites in California to bolster their coverage. One is Stocktonia, based in the San Joaquin Valley city of Stockton. It not only offers strong daily coverage but also acts as a local government watchdog through its accountability journalism. Our other sites all rest under the Times of San Diego news operation, which offers a vast array of stories about life in one of the state’s most vibrant cities and includes seven hyper-local biweekly and monthly newspapers previously published under the San Diego News Group banner.
Our model is simple: Local journalists report and edit the news, we provide the support and innovation.
The News-Press is NEWSWELL’s third news endeavor, thanks to local consultant Ben Romo, who worked with philanthropist Jason Yardi to secure and preserve the digital archives of the defunct newspaper for community benefit. A group led by Romo bought the digital assets, trademark, internet domain and social media accounts of the News-Press out of U.S. Bankruptcy Court to keep them under local control, rather than let them go to a foreign investor with a competing bid.
Noting the national movement to preserve local news, Romo then discovered NEWSWELL. “We found the NEWSWELL model to be very exciting, so we decided to donate the News-Press as a business to them,” he said.
We’ll be back with more information on this initiative after our survey and listening sessions conclude. For now, know that we’re here to support journalism in Santa Barbara County and continue to tell the story of this very special place.
Correction: An earlier version of a caption on the above photo gallery listed an incorrect date for the Stearns Wharf fire. That blaze occurred in 1998.
