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In case you haven’t been paying attention for the past two decades, newspapers of all sizes and styles have been under attack since their 20th century heyday.
Some of the assaults are overt, with powerful officials, corporations, and businessfolk intentionally undermining truth, facts, and the professional journalists who report them in order to further financial and political gains.
But the greater, less intentional, and not even necessarily malicious damage comes from ever-evolving technologies and the resulting change in public behavior. The shift from printed paper to tiny screens — coupled with media’s general inability to adapt quickly enough in a competitive way — is steadily chipping away at the traditional advertising models that once supported a diverse landscape of papers, which were once common in tiny towns and massive metro regions alike.
Despite these headwinds, the Santa Barbara Independent is not just surviving, we’re actually thriving. Having published our first issue back on November 26, 1986, this year marks our 40th birthday, and we’ve been celebrating in various ways, including the exhibit of Indy covers that took over the Faulkner Gallery back in April and May.
But our big shindig is this Saturday, August 29, 11 a.m.-4 p.m., at the Presidio. Called INDY40 Fest, the free event features live music, interactive booths, and a series of panels in the chapel. See independent.com/indy40fest for all the details.
That’s where you’ll find me at 1 p.m., moderating a conversation with Nick “The Angry Poodle” Welsh and Marianne Partridge, the paper’s co-founder, co-owner, and editor-in-chief. Following me, Tyler Hayden will be chatting at 2 p.m. with early hires: arts writer Josef Woodard, news reporter Martha Sadler, retired sales exec Camille Cimini Fruin, and “the voice of the Independent,” office manager Tanya Spears Guiliachi. The final chat at 3 p.m. will be hosted by reporter Ryan Cruz and star our younger reporters and content producers Callie Fausey, Christina McDermott, Maya Johnson, and Elaine Sanders.
There will also be a ton of related fun throughout the Presidio Neighborhood and beyond. On the food & wine front, The Cheese Shop is hosting a DJ for the first time ever and giving out cheese bites, 2-4 p.m.; Paloma Cafe is serving a ham & cheese Sando plus mimosa for $20 to anyone who mentions INDY40 Fest, 10:30 a.m.-2 p.m.; and Grassini Family Vineyards is offering 2-for-1 tastings.
I was personally involved in setting up two of the auxiliary events. Loubud Wines’ puzzle maker Paul Hughes created an INDY40 Fest puzzle to solve and his wife, the winemaker Laura Hughes, will do a sabering demo of her sparkling wines at 2 p.m. in their El Paseo courtyard.
And I worked with Zac Wasserman at Frequency Wines to create “Matt’s Favorite Flight,” featuring five wines that I selected based on my Wine Enthusiast reviews. That will run from now until my birthday on September 6, and every flight purchased will contribute $5 to the Mickey Flacks Fund for Journalism.
If you can’t make the party, then you better get to reading the flurry of stories we’ve been publishing all week about the early days of the Indy and our diverse personal memories along the way.
Here’s what’s we’ve got so far on that front:
George Thurlow’s history of the Santa Barbara News & Review, the cooperative weekly paper that became the Indy.
Nick Welsh’s story about how he came to sign the Angry Poodle with his byline.
My “review” of the first issue of the Independent, from November 26, 1986.
As to the stories from our staff and contributors, we’ve so far published:
- Josef Woodard’s Four Decades-Plus of Steady Culture Consumption
- John Zant Goes from Daily to Weekly Sportswriter
- Charles Donelan’s First Cover Story
- The Flavor and the Substance Keeps Rebecca Horrigan Writing
- Leslie Dinaberg on Besting the Beast
- Indy Interns and Jean Yamamura
- Jim Buckley Brought Sports to the Independent
- Terry Ortega’s Move from Travel Consultant to Calendar Queen
- Tanya Spears Guiliacci Is the Voice of the Independent
- The Palladino Father-Son Movie Reviewing Team
- And my own first byline story: Matt Kettmann Buys Airplane Tickets on the Internet.
If you’ve got your own insightful/funny/interesting Indy story, feel free to send it my way. We’ll keep publishing these all year.
And we’ll keep the birthday vibes flowing into the fall, as the Indy will be hanging another exhibit, this time about our decades of Santa Barbara International Film Festival coverage and collaborations, at the new SBIFF Film Center on State Street in October and November. Stay tuned for details on that.
See you Saturday!
From Our Table
Here are some stories you may have missed:
- Leslie Dinaberg covered the Carr Winery and Cheese Shop SB pairing night.
- I generally dislike harvest stories, as they can be so presumptive and promotional, but I wrote one anyway!
- My piece from a few months ago in Wine Enthusiast’s print magazine about the legendary Sinton family of Paso Robles balancing cattle ranching with grape growing was released on the WE website (at my urging).
- And then, also due to my urging, WE published my “Tupperwine party” story online prior to its print magazine debut next month. This involved a Napa winery coming to my backyard for a party, and includes quotes from my good friends, which is always fun.
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