Death of a Daily

The Rise and Self-Inflicted Fall of the 'News-Press'

Death of a Daily

The Rise and Self-Inflicted
Fall of the Santa Barbara News-Press

by Nick Welsh | August 17, 2023

Credit: Ingrid Bostrom

There were warning signs even as the first celebratory champagne corks were exploding. I remember at the time — 23 years ago now — trying to contact Wendy P. McCaw for a comment and getting nowhere fast. She had just purchased the Santa Barbara News-Press, the county’s flagship daily newspaper then said to date back 132 years. Many in the community were giddy over the prospects her purchase seemed to promise. 

What we knew of McCaw back then, admittedly, was next to nothing. She lived in Hope Ranch, was ungodly rich, loved animals, and spent lavishly to protect them. She was a libertarian, an environmentalist, a preservationist. 

A rich, passionate eccentric who actually lived here.

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