Times Media Group Aquires Acorn
Starting out small, the Times Media Group began with the ownership of only one newspaper, now controls many publications in Arizona and California. Founded by Steve Strickbine with the Valley Times in North Scottsdale, Arizona in 1997, the Times Media Group has grown 500 percent in the past twenty years. They now own the Pasadena Weekly, Foothill News, The Argonaut [Santa Monica], The Ventura County Star, and many others. Their newest acquisitions include the San Clemente TImes, The Dana Point Times, and the Capistrano Dispatch last month, and most recently, the Acorn newspapers.
The Agoura, Calabasa, Westlake Village Acorn was purchased by Lisa and Jim rule in 1996. They soon founded the Thousand Oaks, Moorpark, Simi Valley, and Camarillo newspapers, expanding their reach. The Rules value the independent, local nature of the Acorn newspapers, a value that readers fear will be lost now that the papers have been purchased by the large, Arizona-based newsgroup Times Media. According to their website, the Times Media Group values “integrity and excellence”, and their announcement in the most recent issue of the Acorn says that they are committed to “providing communities the local news and information they need with a high degree of accuracy and truth,” similar values to the original values of the Acorn.
Changing ownership can often change the feel of a newspaper. Only time will tell how this ownership switch affects our own local Acorn newspapers.
