The Santa Barbara Independent is a news, arts, and entertainment newspaper published every Thursday in Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara, California

Santa Barbara is the county seat of Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Situated on an east-west trending section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coast of the United States, the city lies between the steeply-rising Santa Ynez Mountains and the Pacific Ocean...

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History

The paper was founded in November 1986. It is owned by four people within a corporation — Marianne Partridge, who came to California from New York in the 1980s and is the editor-in-chief, Randy Campbell, who grew up in Santa Barbara and is the publisher, and two silent partners from New York and Boston — Rick Grand-Jean and Richard Parker.

Partridge filed a lawsuit February 11, 2010, against Campbell, alleging breach of contract after Campbell allegedly did not sell his shares to her under a buy-sell agreement. Campbell filed a cross-complaint citing breach of the agreement when Partridge obtained outside financing. In November 2010, Campbell added Joseph L. Cole as a defendant and two new causes of action against Cole only: breach of fiduciary duty and injunctive relief prohibiting Cole from participating in, financing, or advising Partridge in her attempt to purchase Campbell’s shares. Cole was formerly Campbell's attorney.

Circulation

In 2010 the Independent had a circulation of 40,000, the largest circulated newspaper in Santa Barbara County. A December 2004 report by the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies reported that the paper's audience was 68 percent female and that nearly half the readers were over 45 years old.

Attributes

The paper includes news stories, arts, music, book, and film coverage, an entertainment calendar, a lifestyle section, and reviews of restaurants and culture. The Independent also does investigative reporting on a variety of issues, from the environment to local politics.

After the beginning of the Santa Barbara News-Press controversy

Santa Barbara News-Press controversy

The Santa Barbara News-Press controversy refers to a series of events starting after businesswoman Wendy P. McCaw bought the Santa Barbara News-Press from The New York Times Company in 2000. McCaw proceeded to oversee some of the newspaper's content, and some news editors and reporters felt her...

 in 2006, the Independent implemented Web-based columns and news articles at independent.com. The internet edition is updated daily, and more frequently during some local events, such as the 2008 Gap and Tea

Montecito Tea Fire

The Montecito Tea Fire is a wildfire that began on November 13, 2008, destroying 210 homes in the cities of Montecito and Santa Barbara, California in the United States of America. It was the first of several November 2008 wildfires that burned hundreds of homes November 13–15, 2008...

 brush fires and the Jesusita

Jesusita Fire

The Jesusita Fire was a wildfire that began at approximately 1:45 PM on May 5, 2009 in the hills of Santa Barbara, California. The fire burned , destroyed 80 homes and damaged 15 more before being 100% contained....

 fire in 2009. A community-alert system called IndyAlert has also been developed to send out e-mail and cell-phone messages during disasters and community emergencies. The website, independent.com, was deemed the most-visited news website in Santa Barbara County.

In 2008, the newspaper industry magazine Editor & Publisher

Editor & Publisher

Editor & Publisher is a monthly magazine covering the North American newspaper industry. It is based in New York City. E&P calls itself "America's Oldest Journal Covering the Newspaper Industry" and describes itself on its website as "the authoritative journal covering all aspects of the North...

named independent.com the Best Weekly Affiliated Website in the United States. In 2008 the Independent was named one of "10 That Do It Right," for exemplary newspaper publishing.

The paper has been described by editor-in-chief Marianne Partridge as somewhat liberal.