2012-08-02

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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

2012-08-02 E-Edition

Local candidates build cash hoard in race for 26th Congressional District

Strickland, Brownley raise $2.3 million so far


In one of the most expensive races this year for the U.S. House of Representatives, the campaign war chests in Ventura County’s 26th U.S. Congressional District continue to swell with the two candidates reporting a combined $2.3 million in receipts as of June 30. Republican state Sen. Tony Strickland, who finished first in the June 5 primary with 44 percent […]

‘Gold Team’ wants state to shine once again




Assemblymember Jeff Gorell and Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the formation of the Gold Team—a bipartisan effort that hopes to lure businesses to California—during a July 27 news conference at Amgen headquarters in Thousand Oaks. Gorell, a Republican from Camarillo, was elected to the Assembly in 2010 while serving as an intelligence officer for the U.S. Navy Reserve. The former […]

Hands-on exhibit at the Calabasas Library



Send us your best fiction story



If you think you have a knack for writing, we invite you to put your creative juices to work and take part in the upcoming “Fiction in a Nutshell” contest. Here’s how the Acorn’s popular annual competition works: In 100 words or less, write a fiction story and email it to newstip@theacorn.com. You may also send it by mail to […]

Calabasas planning commissioner dies following car accident




The community is mourning the loss of a man whose expertise provided an influential role in the shaping of the City of Calabasas. Gary Klein, vice-chair of the Calabasas Planning Commission and former Calabasas Citizen of the Year, died on July 31 while hospitalized in Woodland Hills following a traffic accident. “He was involved in a traffic accident on July […]

Cal Water Service customers, including Westlake, face rate hikes




Some Thousand Oaks and Westlake Village residents may see an increase in their monthly water bills by 2014 if a rate hike requested by California Water Service Company in July is approved. Residential customers would pay an average of $30 more starting in January 2014 if the California Public Utilities Commission accepts Cal Water’s request. Smaller increases due to inflation […]

Precarious time for school fundraising



T.H.E. (Together Helping Education) Foundation recently donated to the Las Virgenes Unified School District approximately half of the more than $400,000 the foundation raised from June’s big fundraiser in Calabasas. What a great way to kick off the new school year. Because LVUSD faces a $3.4-million deficit due to state budget cuts, the donation will allow the district to maintain […]

Anti-gay backlash



The city of Boston has rejected Chick-fil-A and so should we. Regardless of your beliefs, we should not welcome a franchise that teaches intolerance. Our community is better than that. Let’s embrace those who believe in the acceptance of others regardless of how they choose to live. Mark Rashba Oak Park

Answers from water district board member



There have been a rash of inaccuracies in the letters to the editor in the past few weeks and without response they will stand as the truth, although their authors seem not to care about the truth, only making political points to further their mission. Martin Jansen says that I have a vineyard at my home. I have about 700 […]