Santa Barbara News-Press Ceases Publication After 150 Years (2023)

After more than 150 years of news gathering, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Santa Barbara News-Press newspaper posted its last online edition on Friday, July 21, 2023, a month after the newspaper ceased publication of its print newspaper and went fully digital.

The end for the venerable News-Press came in the form of a bankruptcy filing last week by Ampersand Publishing, a company controlled by Wendy McCaw. In an email, Managing Editor Dave Mason wrote that McCaw had filed for bankruptcy Friday. “All of our jobs are eliminated, and the News-Press has stopped publishing,” the email read. “They ran out of money to pay us. They will issue final paychecks when the bankruptcy is approved in court.”