Welcome CINA Members

By Laura Rearwin Ward, publisher Ojai Valley News, Dec. 24, 2025

Just as local independent news publishers and editors understand the existential threat from being gobbled by the Big Bad Wolves of Wall Street, in strolls the wolf in sheep’s clothing, an out-of-state nonprofit making moves to “save” California’s independent newspapers by absorbing them. However, whether we are steamrolled or hugged to death, the result of media consolidations by powerful interests for communities is the same: aggregated, canned, outsourced content; sponsored editorial mixed up as news; loss of reporters; slop AI content; and the evaporation of outlets’ individuality and community connection.

Why is it that big money and government want to control messages in California? It’s to call off the watchdogs. Reporting for the people, independent news outlets are mission-driven to investigate, uncover and inform the public — without fear or favor — through our state’s remaining independent free press outlets.

To be fair, being a locally owned independent doesn’t in and of itself mean it’s an unbiased paper. However, the framers of the United States knew the importance when they chose to protect the role of the press — the only business mentioned in the Constitution. That’s because it is vital to foster a diversity of news ownership, where the financial and political interests rest in communities, and in the hands of many, rather than in control of the few. Speech and press freedoms are key to a free country. (It’s a right we fight for every week when we buy our local Ojai Valley News paper.)

The billionaire player gaining ground in the California news industry is Newswell, funded by Arizona State Foundation and the new owner of the Santa Barbara News Press. Newswell is also aggressively paying calls on small independent newspapers up and down the state, with pockets puffed with $5 million in seed money from The Knight Foundation, and much bigger money behind that. The Foundation received new gifts and commitments of $630.8 million in 2025 and with more than a billion dollars in assets.

Landing in Santa Barbara this month, Newswell made quick work of poaching talent from local digital newsroom Noozhawk and stood up a site leaning on shared content from other nonprofits as it develops its “innovative” and “sustainable” business model implementing “economies of scale” (the same inspirational words used by all chain-news outlets).

Offering Ojai Media a soft off-ramp from the news industry, the executive director of global advancement spoke to me about “partnering with Newswell.” He named other independent California newspapers he was also working on to turn over their publications to Newswell. He explained their profitability plan — a twist on journalism’s core value — with revenue coming from pay-to-play, AI-generated articles funded by businesses, with human oversight.

Turns out they are advertising for a developer to create the platform right now: “We’re looking for someone who thrives at the intersection of journalism, automation and innovation. … Develop pipelines that combine scraping, AI summarization … and using stakeholder inputs in creating minimum viable products.” Add to that a few actual reporters (complete with benefits from Arizona State University) and, presto, another cog in the generic-chain-news web is stamped out from Arizona. It’s genius.

In a stunning show of coordination, and within hours of me getting off the call with “global advancement,” an Ojai acquaintance of mine was contacted by Newswell’s “senior director of advancement, West Coast,” presumably cross-referenced as both a graduate from ASU and a friend connection on social media. The caller convinced him to email me to promote the benefits of Newswell.

Global corporate news chains like Gannett (USA Today), which is owned by Softbank Japan, and Alden Global Capital join Big Tech in their responsibility for decimating local news. They buy California local newspapers, sell off property, lay off staff, eliminate differences in style and cross-publish content. They squeeze out the profit, leaving a ghost of the publication that was, and community news deserts grow.

See Newswell’s handiwork for yourself in San Diego, where eight newspapers were folded into one website: timesofsandiego.com. In Santa Barbara, newspress.com, where a few reporters have come on board (with room for an Ojai Valley News page), both leverage other nonprofits (CalMatters, EdSource, Capital & Main) as well as press releases and AI content.

For a for-profit peek into Ventura County, observe how Times Media Group (TMG), an Arizona chain, purchased The Acorn in 2023 and reduced five papers into one, theacorn.com. The vcreporter.com, also owned by TMG, formerly distributing 25,000 papers a week, shed its office and now prints fewer than 8,000 copies. These are both shells of their former selves, while the parent company continues to acquire more. Exhibit C is vcstar.com, which sold in 2016 to Gannett (now printing 7,566 copies) and is now so lacking in basic reporting that a local philanthropist props it up by funding a couple of local reporters’ salaries through the Ventura County Community Foundation.

Philanthropy should be there to fill in the gaps for news reporting created by Big Tech monopolies and chain news buyouts rather than jockeying with hedge funds for industry control. The world’s most powerful should not be permitted to pick winners and losers in California journalism. It’s communities themselves that will face the consequences when their mystery content “innovation” goes badly wrong.

The last of California independents take pride in their mission. We have formed California Independent News Alliance (CINA) 501(c)(3) and are making a stand alongside our communities. Learn more at: www.cina.news.

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