The latest from the
Santa Barbara News-Press
NEWSWELL, a nonprofit whose mission is to transform local news to help communities and democracy thrive, is reimagining the Santa Barbara News-Press. Our model is simple: Local journalists report and edit the news, we provide the and innovation.
As we progress, we’ll share insights into our work, as well as from the community. We’d love your input. Take our survey here.
A fresh start
NEWSWELL is reimagining the Santa Barbara News-Press, adding to the area’s journalism landscape and amplifying the needs, ideas and voices of its people
The Latest
We bought our hometown paper to preserve its past. Now, we’re setting it on a course for the future
A philanthropic effort has secured and preserved the archives of the Santa Barbara News-Press for community benefit.
The rise, fall and reimagining of the News-Press
Santa Barbara’s newspaper history is a circuitous path that saw its share of colorful characters, the rise and fall of publications and impressive growth of the News-Press in tandem with the blossoming of what was being coined the “American Riviera.”
Santa Barbara News-Press has always been history in the making
For every historic event that left a mark on Santa Barbara — from quakes, fires and floods to oil gushers and the booming housing market — the news outlet was there to document it.
Pulitzer-winning News-Press editorial took firm political stand
The News-Press ran a series of investigative stories in 1961 about the John Birch Society and its activities in Santa Barbara, culminating in an editorial that won the newspaper a Pulitzer Prize.