• by Ray Schultz , July 24, 2023

Ampersand Publishing, LLC has filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy, spelling the end of the 168 year-old Santa Barbara News-Press.

The last online edition was July 21, according to The Santa Barbara Independent. 

The bankruptcy filing indicates that there are no assets to pay creditors. Chapter 7 bankruptcy normally means liquidation. 

The publisher reported from 200 to 999 creditors and estimated liabilities totaling from $1 million to $10 million. 

The company listed assets of $50,000 or less. 

The News-Press, which won a Pulitzer in 1962 for its editorials against the John Birch Society and was previously owned by The New York Times, was purchased by Wendy McCar for $110 million in 2000, according to The Guardian. 

Newsroom employees were notified of the filing—and the elimination of their jobs—in an email.  

Managing Editor Dave Mason wrote in an email to staff, “I have some bad news. Wendy filed for bankruptcy on Friday. All of our jobs are eliminated, and the News-Press has stopped publishing. They ran out of money to pay us. They will issue final paychecks when the bankruptcy is approved in court.”

The bankruptcy petition is on file with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Central District of California.