2013-11-21

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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

2013-11-21 E-Edition

‘It takes a village’

Ahmanson Ranch activists celebrate their ‘big day’


More than 200 open space advocates and friends of the environment gathered at the former Ahmanson Ranch site on Sunday for a 10th anniversary acknowledgement of the scenic Ventura County parkland. The preserve is nestled between the Simi Hills in the north and Santa Monica Mountains in the south. The almost 3,000-acre Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, formerly […]

Play-acting teens give parents a big dose of reality




What really happens at unsupervised teen parties? To help parents find out, Straight Up, a youth advocacy group that works to curb teen alcohol and drug use, is hosting a series of reality parties in the area. There was one on Nov. 16 in Agoura Hills and one scheduled for Dec. 7 in Westlake Village.During the mock parties, about 20 […]

Early delivery



The Acorn Thanksgiving week issue will be delivered to homes and businesses on Wed., Nov. 27, not Thurs., Nov. 28. We also remind advertisers about early deadlines this week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Real estate and classified advertising is due by noon today, Thurs., Nov. 21. Retail advertising is due by noon tomorrow, Fri., Nov. 22. The Acorn staff […]

Effort hopes to put heroin antidote in hands of public




No one wants to imagine a loved one overdosing on heroin or painkillers. But in the event such an emergency occurs, an antidote is available that can prevent the overdose from turning deadly. About 20 people attended an overdose prevention and response training class in Oak Park last week where they were taught how to use an injectable medicine that […]

Local congresswoman breaks ranks with party on healthcare reform

Brownley one of 39 Dems to vote for GOP-sponsored bill


U.S.Rep. Julia Brownley (DThousand Oaks) joined 38 other Democratic members of Congress last week who broke party ranks and voted in support of a Republican bill that would allow healthcare policyholders to keep their current plans that don’t meet standards of the Affordable Care Act and allow insurance companies to continue selling those policies through 2014. The Keep Your Health […]

Teen reality parties a wake-up call



This is not your grandfather’s party. Not even your father’s, where a beer and a cigarette were the worst that might happen. Today’s teen parties push the envelope, and parents don’t know the half of it. Booze, hard drugs, nudity—and social media to keep the fires stoked. The teen party scene today is a far cry from what it used […]

Empty shelves at Manna must be avoided




As the executive director of the Conejo Valley’s largest hunger relief organization, I am often asked, “Will it help more to give money or to give food?” The simple answer is that both are vitally important to what we do. Financial donations are critical. Without funding, Manna could not keep our truck on the road six days a week or […]

Once upon a time in early America



Well, it’ll be on us again— Thanksgiving. No, not the official pablum about Pilgrims and Indians enjoying a bounteous harvest together in 1621. The truth? The Pilgrims were rebelling against a viciously cold and pestilent winter of starvation that had killed half of their congregation. They were eating their fill of an inadequate harvest when an armed and curious band […]

Do more with less



In a recent issue of The Acorn, Southern California Edison asked consumers to use less electricity. The water department is asking us to use less water. The government is asking us to use less gasoline. No matter what it is, we are supposed to live on less. Is this the America that built a transcontinental railroad, the Golden Gate Bridge […]