2010-07-29

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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

The swastica is an attack on all faiths



I was horrified when I read about the elderly couple in Dos Vientos who discovered a swastika painted on the side of their home. They have good reason to be terrified. Under the unfurling of that dreaded symbol, 6 million innocent men, women and children were killed in Hitler’s death camps. Thousands of American servicemen fought and died in World […]

The season for rattlesnakes has slithered around again



Children and dogs are most vulnerable to rattlesnake attacks due to their curiosity, but injury and death can be prevented if certain precautions are taken, snake wrangler Bo Slyapich told members of the Conejo Valley Rotary Club at their meeting last week. “We’re at the height of rattlesnake season,” said Slyapich, a Calabasas resident who’s been catching and studying the […]

Grand jury focuses on school district health plans



Initial reactions are varied among area education officials in the wake of a recently unveiled Ventura County grand jury report that examines healthcare benefits among the county’s 22 school districts. The grand jury released “The Half Billion Dollar Elephant in Our Schools’ Closets” on June 11, and it’s given each district 90 days to respond to the findings and recommendations. […]

A toe-tapping good time at Tropical Daze



Children make the most of summertime fun



Theater workshop caters to children

Instruction focused on musical ‘Annie’

A workshop on musical theater techniques for children will be offered from 9 a.m. to noon Mon. through Fri., Aug. 2 to 6 at Bernadette Nader Music Studio, 229 Via Colinas, Westlake Village. The workshop will incorporate singing, acting and movement instruction from the musical “Annie.” A presentation of excerpts from the musical will be presented at 7 p.m. Fri., […]

Doing that Tropical Daze hula



T.O. resident needs donations for project



Local resident Evan Dorval is asking for assistance from the community to help him complete his bar mitzvah project. His bar mitzvah is scheduled to take place in October at Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks. Evan is collecting gently used sports equipment to donate to the at-risk children who live at Casa Pacifica in Camarillo. He is looking for […]

Local resident named one of ‘50 Most Influential Rabbis’



“The Sisterhood,” the women’s issues blog of the Jewish Daily Forward newspaper, recently compiled a list of the 50 most influential women rabbis in America and included Rebecca Dubowe of Temple Adat Elohim in Thousand Oaks. After being ordained in 1993 at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Reform, Dubowe became the nation’s first deaf female rabbi. “I was truly flattered […]

American jobs must be reserved for Americans

Guest opinion

Everyone talks about securing the border, but the border is only a symbol of a much larger problem. Even if the border is sealed, it will not stop those who came to the United States legally then overstayed their visas–– which today account for 40 percent of illegal immigrants. Most illegal immigrants come here for jobs. We know at least […]