2019-10-10

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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

2019-10-10 E-Edition

Hikers, bikers and horses jockey for position

It’s important to know who has the right of way


A jogger on Cheeseboro Canyon Trail comes around a curve and finds herself face-to-face with a cyclist. Someone has to make room, but who is supposed to yield? In this case, the cyclist should move aside. The National Park Service is embarking on an educational campaign to make sure bikers, hikers and equestrians who use the trails are aware of […]

Land agency floats property tax hike

MRCA seeks funding for fires, open space


The property tax bill is chock-full of add-on assessments that allow schools, water districts and fire departments to raise revenue for services. There could be a new tax on the bill received by property owners that would raise funds for the Mountains Recreation and Conservation Authority, a public land management agency formed in 1985 to help acquire and protect open […]

More cougars poisoned

Poison commonly used to kill rodents and pests has been linked to the death of two more mountain lions in the Santa Monica Mountains. A healthy 6-year-old male known as P-30 and a female, P-53, died from the effects of anticoagulant rodenticide poisoning, the National Park Service said. On Sept. 9, NPS biologists hiked into Topanga State Park to look […]

Water pioneer remembered

Hal Helsley monument unveiled


A monument to honor a leading pioneer in local water use will stand forever at Rancho Las Virgenes Composting Facility in Calabasas. Hal Helsley, who died last year at 81, established the 25-year-old composting plant as a means to reuse the wastewater produced by homes and businesses in the far-reaching Las Virgenes Municipal Water District. “This facility is something he […]

Foundation’s expert field looks ahead

Genes, robots, clean water and alternative housing solutions are some of this year’s topics at the fifth annual Conejo/Las Virgenes Future Foundation 10×10 Speaker Event Oct. 24 at the Grant Brimhall Library. The FBI will be there, too. Ten experts in their field will speak for 10 minutes each on 10 key topics that are important to the region. The […]

Armed robbery in Westlake

A man and woman were arrested for holding another couple at gunpoint in a Westlake Village apartment Sept. 25 as they reportedly sought to collect on a drug debt. A 29-year-old woman called the Thousand Oaks Police Department to say there were two armed robbers inside a Westcreek Apartments unit near the intersection of Kanan and Lindero Canyon roads. Detective […]

If the lights go out, will you be ready?

There’s been a year of public outreach, yet only now does it appear California customers are realizing the massive ramifications of Southern California Edison’s new Public Safety Power Shutoff program. Northern California’s SCE equivalent, Pacific Gas & Electricity Corp., or PG&E, made national headlines this week when it announced the coming Santa Ana winds are prompting the utility giant to […]

Cartoon

Reaction to Helus Blue Bowl cancellation

Your extended article concerning the Sgt. Helus Blue Bowl and the Zore Foundation should serve as a cautionary tale about the problem-reaction-solution trap of any tragedy. The sheriff’s office and the community of Thousand Oaks should think twice before heeding the “attention must be paid” call of any and every rainmaker from Florida who comes along promising to kiss the […]