2026 Best of
Santa Barbara®
Media
By Tyler Hayden | October 22, 2026
Photos by Ingrid Bostrom | Illustrations by Ben Ciccati
Find more Best of Santa Barbara 2026® winners here.
Local Influencer
S.B. Celebrity
John Palminteri
The man, the myth, the mustache. For nearly four decades, indefatigable newsman John Palminteri has maintained a superhuman presence on television, radio, and social media. “You have to be built with a few extra layers of durability to do news reporting and social media postings at the highest level to meet the demands of the public,” The Palm explained, calling it a “never-ending adventure” to witness the events that unfold around us each day. But, he said, it can be hard to step off the ride. “There is this thing called FOMO — Fear of Missing Out,” he said. “I hope to get cured from that soon and take more vacation time off in the next year!”
Runner-Up (Local Influencer): @BiteMeSB
Runner-Up (S.B. Celebrity): Jeff Bridges
S.B. Columnist
Nick Welsh
Santa Barbara Independent, Independent.com
We were going to ask Nick Welsh for a pithy quote on his win for the Angry Poodle, but every time we peeked into his office, he was in his flow state — head down, glasses on, striking the keyboard with typewriter force. Best not to interrupt and instead say this: For more than 40 years, Welsh has been Santa Barbara’s most entertaining political watchdog, combining meticulous reporting with a bottomless well of historical knowledge to skewer the powerful and champion the underdog. He writes with a ferocity matched only by his affection for Santa Barbara, and luckily for us — even at 280 in canine years — the Poodle still has plenty of bite in him.
Runner-Up: Starshine Roshell
S.B. Radio Station
92.9 KJEE
In our eerie new age of AI-generated playlists, KJEE remains gloriously human, unmistakably hometown, and fiercely independent. “We are not run by a faceless corporate entity,” said Blazer, Lord of Local Traffic, Prince of Sales. “We are locally owned and operated by one of the last independent radio companies, Montecito FM — we answer to a guy who lives in Santa Barbara and has his picture on the wall at Joe’s.” The 92.9 FM signal of modern rock and local news reaches 25,000 listeners every week, and “it’s our duty and pleasure to provide it,” said Blazer. Crank it!
Runner-Up: KCSB-FM
S.B.-Based Newsletter
Indy Today
Good morning, Santa Barbara! Of all the emails cluttering your inbox, we’re delighted that IndyToday is one you actually look forward to opening. We like to think of our flagship newsletter as that in-the-know friend who keeps you in the loop without bending your ear for too long. “Newsletters have become one of our most engaged digital platforms, and we want to ensure we are not wasting readers’ time when they open it up,” said the Independent’s publisher, Brandi Rivera. Thanks for letting us help you start your day. We’ll keep the coffee brewing and the news coming.
Runner-Up: Noozhawk
S.B.-Based Website
Santa Barbara Independent
Talk about awkward…. But we’ll accept, with sincere gratitude, because a) we run a clean and fair poll, and b) because the team behind Independent.com, who burns the candle at both ends to keep our site alight, deserves the recognition — Web Content Manager Don Brubaker and Social Media Manager Maya Johnson. “Every day, our editorial team works diligently to deliver the most in-depth reporting it can to Santa Barbara County and beyond,” said Brubaker. “In an age when misinformation and fear of artificial intelligence encroach on our understanding of objective truth, we commit ourselves to 100 percent human-generated, factual reporting, from the latest news story to the latest concert. Every. Damn. Time.”
Runner-Up: Noozhawk
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