2006-08-03

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Acorn online content now offered free

'Paywall' removed

The new millennium has been a transformative time for newspaper publishing.

Changing reader habits and the advent of new technology have placed big demands on companies in the print news business.

The Acorn and its parent company, Times Media Group, understand that their biggest responsibility is not only the delivery of credible, relevant information in a timely fashion, but making sure residents have easy access to the publication when stories become available.

That’s why we’re super excited about the news being shared today.

Following a five-year stretch in which Acorn readers were given the option of purchasing online subscriptions to the paper, that so-called “paywall” is coming down.

“Mr. Publisher, tear down this wall,” the late President Ronald Reagan might have once said.

And so we did.

Starting immediately, all online content from our five Acorn publications will be available at no charge to the reader, meaning a paid subscription is no longer required to click and read articles. The weekly Acorn has always been delivered to your driveway at no cost—that more than 40-year tradition will continue—and from now on The Acorn on the internet will be free as well.

Why the change?

The Acorn is your community newspaper, and we want to make sure it stays that way. We believe it’s important that residents feel a connection to the stories we write and also learn about the businesses that advertise in their community. The absence of a paywall is the best way to ensure this free-flow of information remains.

We also invite readers to sign up for the new, easy-to-read Acorn newspaper e-edition delivered weekly to your e-mail. Viewed on mobile, desktop or laptop, the pages are super easy to navigate and, free, just like the print paper.

Local journalism is first gear in the engine that drives America’s free press, and a free press it shall be.

Archives

Speaker to discuss man’s effect on global climate



David Lea, PhD, a professor of geology at UC Santa Barbara, will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the Democratic Club of the Conejo Valley at 6:30 p.m. Wed., Aug. 9 at the Grant Brimhall/Thousand Oaks Library, 1401 E. Janss Road, Thousand Oaks. Lea will be discussing his extensive research in the links between changing ocean composition […]

Watch ‘Madagascar’ in Calabasas



The city of Calabasas Community Services Department will present the summer kick off for Movies Under the Stars in conjunction with Family Skate Night from 7 to 10 p.m. Fri., Aug. 11 at de Anza Park, 3701 Lost Hills Road in Calabasas. The night will include a screening of the animated movie “Madagascar” (rated PG), music, skating, games, crafts and […]

Musicians take audience on audio journey



Thousand Oaks-based Gemini Sun Records announced that for the first time the record label will bring several world-class musicians on stage in concert at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. The show, scheduled for Fri., Aug. 11 at 8 p.m., will feature multiplatinum inspirational recording artist Nicholas Gunn; composer David Arkenstone, who was nominated three times for a Grammy award; […]

Stage Door is ‘caught up’ in its newest comedy



The Stage Door Theatre in Agoura Hills presents the comedy “Caught in the Net” by Ray Cooney. It’s the sequel to Cooney’s play, “Run for Your Wife,” which the theater performed last year, which told the story of a London taxi driver with two wives. “Caught in the Net” will continue on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m. through […]

Comedy with serious side



Theatricum Botanicum offers food for thought with the West Coast premiere of “Omnium Gatherum,” a play that was the hit of the 2003 Humana Festival and a finalist for the 2004 Pulitzer Prize. In this impassioned but comical work, the perfect hostess gives the perfect dinner party, a feast of food and argument where eight people from different walks of […]

American Music Festival coming to Skirball Center



Skirball Cultural Center will present the American Music Festival from 2 to 7 p.m. Sun., Aug. 6 at the Center, 2701 N. Sepulveda Blvd., Los Angeles. The event will feature four live performances and a lineup of family activities all designed to celebrate the cultural and historical diversity of North American music. Showcasing musicians playing Appalachian, country/rock/bluegrass, rhythm and blues, […]

Free outdoor jazz concerts at Gardens of the World



Gardens of the World community park will add the sound of music to its exquisite international gardens as it hosts the fourth annual program of summer jazz concerts. All concerts are from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Sundays at 2001 Thousand Oaks Blvd., Thousand Oaks. Summer jazz concerts Aug. 6: The Big Band of Brad Carow and Joe Gray. Carow is […]

‘Beauty and the Beast’ comes to Pepperdine



Chamberlains’ Performing & Fine Arts Academy will present “Beauty and the Beast” at 7 p.m. from Tues. to Thurs., Aug. 15 to 17, in Smothers Theatre on the Pepperdine University campus in Malibu. Based on the Academy Awardwinning animated feature, the stage version includes all the songs from the film written by Alan Menken and the late Howard Ashman, plus […]

Calabasas residents going postal over ZIP code issue



Just for the record, I live in the Lost Hills area of Calabasas, and I am in favor of a ZIP code change to 91302. It always is very confusing whenever I order items online, as most companies want me to use “Agoura Hills, CA 91301” for my mailing address, even though I live in Calabasas. I think that this […]

More facts about medical marijuana



Just a quick note of appreciation for your article on the abuses of the California Compassionate Use Act of 1996. I regret that other journalists who cover this issue are not as discerning, choosing instead to paint everything in black-and-white (for it or against it), with little or no interest in the nuances of the medical marijuana laws or their […]