2015-04-03

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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

Mission to preserve history

Petition to turn field lab into national monument growing


With cleanup underway at the Santa Susana Field Laboratory, an online petition asking President Barack Obama to designate part of the site a national monument by the end of the year has been gaining ground. The 2,850-acre field lab, built in 1947, has been used as a nuclear test site and for research in the development of ballistic missiles, rockets […]

BofA to lay off 114 employees this month

Company will close one building on Tapo Canyon


Later this month Bank of America will reduce by another 114 the number of employees in its Simi Valley-based legacy asset servicing division. In March, April, September and December of last year, BofA laid off a total of 259 Simi Valley employees in the division. The banking giant created the division to handle default mortgages when it took over nearly […]

PIECE OF HISTORY—



Open-air skate park in the design stage

Facility slated for Berylwood Park


The rumors are true: A new outdoor skate and bike park is coming to Simi Valley. While the proposed $550,000 park, planned as an addition to Berylwood Park at 1955 Bridget Ave., is still in the early design stage, it would include two half-pipes, skate ramps, grinding rails and benches, said Wayne Nakaoka, director of planning and maintenance for the […]

Crossing the finish line

The Great Race of Agoura Hills

FOR SALE BY OWNER

10 Insider Tips to Sell Your Home Without An Agent

If you’ve tried to sell your home yourself, you know that the minute you put the “For Sale by Owner” sign up, the phone will start to ring off the hook. Unfortunately, most calls aren’t from prospective buyers, but rather from ever real estate agent in town who will start to hound you for your listing. Like other “For Sale […]

Homeless group rallies at City Hall

Without encampments, many say they have nowhere to go


With illegal encampments being torn down by authorities and the local winter shelter program ending for the season, about a dozen homeless people congregated peacefully outside City Hall on Wednesday morning hoping to ask city officials one question: Now what do we do? Anthony Villegas, 59, was one of a few who organized the quiet, informal rally, which took place […]

Passover and Easter: days of rebirth and joy



This weekend marks two holy days celebrated by millions around the world. Passover, or Pesach, for Jews will begin Friday at sundown. Sunday will be the Easter celebration for most Christians (Orthodox Christians, who follow a different calendar, will observe Easter on April 12). Passover and Easter are both movable holidays. The gospels state that Jesus was crucified at the […]

Call should have come out sooner



I had to laugh when I read your recent article about school lockdowns. Telling parents to “be patient” and not “panic” when a school is in lockdown is ridiculous and pointless. It simply underscores that those making the policies don’t really know how to communicate with parents. Social media and cellphones have changed how parents get information, and the school […]

Happy Face Hill was hand-tilled



Even a Happy Face Hill cannot please everyone. I noticed a letter from Jeanine Linder describing a ridiculous face burnt into the hillside with toxic substances. Sometimes a happy face has to step up and defend itself to the uninformed who sprout organic fact. First, it was not burnt into the hillside with toxic substances. Happy Face Hill was hand-tilled […]