2016-12-15

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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

Symphony has a ball

Poinsettia event is organization’s biggest fundraiser of the year

‘Fame’ musical to play in Thousand Oaks



“Fame” just might live forever. The musical drama, about teens studying at a prestigious performing arts school in New York City, began its life as a big screen movie starring Irene Cara in 1980. The film was a hit and so was the soundtrack. The title song, performed by Cara, reached No. 4 on Billboard’s Hot 100 and won an […]

OPHS ballet star



ON STAGE THIS WEEKEND—Lexi Garfinkel, left, a sophomore at Oak Park High School, plays Clara in the Sun. Dec. 18 performance of “The Nutcracker” at the T.O. Civic Arts Plaza. Talia Lebowitz, right, will play Clara in a Sat., Dec. 17 show. The girls are with California Dance Theatre. Pro dancer Chasen Greenwald, the Nutcrakcer Prince, is also pictured.

Rose to retire after final holiday show

CONCERT REVIEW /// ‘One Magic Holiday’


“When I started this job, I was 6-foot-3,” joked the famously diminutive Alan Rose, longtime choir director for Westlake High School’s Choral Music Department. This year’s Christmas show, titled “One Magic Holiday,” is Rose’s 32nd and final one in his career at Westlake. He will retire in June 2017 with a lavish concert at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza. […]

Garrison Keillor bringing his wit to T.O.



The Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza will offer a presentation by storyteller and humorist Garrison Keillor at 7:30 p.m. Thurs., Jan. 26 at the Kavli Theatre, 2100 Thousand Oaks Blvd. Keillor started his career at Minnesota Public Radio in 1969 and is best known as the creator of the live variety show, “A Prairie Home Companion,” which he hosted from […]

Dining adventure appeals to all the senses

Authentic Italian and healthy choices


Café Della Vita in West Hills is not only a culinary delight, it offers a comprehensive local experience like no other. It’s an obvious labor of love that starts with owner Antonio Bellissimo, the creative force behind it all whose presence you can feel from the moment you enter the premises, whether he’s there or not. The Café Della Vita […]

Revival folk singers still playing the music

CONCERT REVIEW /// Kweskin and Muldaur


One of the more esoteric acts of the 1960s’ so-called “folk music revival” was Jim Kweskin and His Jug Band, a Boston-based acoustic group that helped revive and modernize pre-World War II traditional folk music, country, blues and jazz. The band’s infectious rhythms, quirky humor and featured performers such as jug player Fritz Richmond, guitarist Geoff Muldaur and singer Maria […]

Calendar



THURS., DEC. 15 Woodland Hills Woman’s Club 10 a.m. at Woodland Hills Country Club, 21150 Dumetz Road. El Camino High School Camarata choir performs holiday music. Luncheon cost: $25. RSVP required. Contact: Jane Leisure. Phone: 818.225. 0843. Channel Islands Gulls 11 a.m. at Spanish Hills Country Club, 999 Crestview Ave., Camarillo. Social time at 11 a.m., lunch at noon. Bring […]

Registration open for camp



The Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Conejo Valley will host Winter Break Camp 2016 for boys and girls from Dec. 19 to 23 and Dec. 27 to 30 at three locations. The clubs are closed Dec. 26 and Jan. 2. Activities will including arts and crafts, holiday treats, music making, dancing and sports. Camp is open to grades one […]

Christmas traditions dead as a doornail

Family Man

It doesn’t feel like the holidays. Maybe that’s because I’ve been so busy I’ve missed traditions like watching “Santa and the Three Bears,” “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “How the Grinch Stole Christmas!” I haven’t read one poem from “It’s Christmas” by Jack Prelutsky, and I haven’t listened to a single song from my Reader’s Digest “Christmas Through the Years” […]