TheVentura County Star (Marked online asVC Star) is a daily newspaper published inCamarillo, California and serves all ofVentura County. It is owned byGannett, the largest publisher of newspapers in the United States. It is a successor to a number of daily newspapers published around Ventura County during the 20th century.
On June 15, 1925, the first issue of theVentura County Star was published. Its first publisher was Roy D. Pinkerton.[1] He co-founded the Star with William H. Porterfield, who died in 1927.[2] An early stockholder in theStar wasJohn P. Scripps Newspaper Group.[3]
In 1936, theStar acquired rival paperVentura Free Press (which itself was founded in 1875) from Dan W. Emmett,[4] and soon began publishing as theVentura County Star-Free Press. In 1986, John P. Scripps merged withE. W. Scripps Company.[5]
E. W. Scripps purchased theCamarillo Daily News in 1992 from Harris Enterprises.[6] The dailySimi Valley Enterprise and the weeklyMoorpark News-Mirror also were acquired in 1992.[6] Scripps also owned the dailyThousand Oaks News Chronicle[6] Editor & Publisher magazine called Ventura County the "site of one of the hottest newspaper wars in the nation."[6] TheLos Angeles Times,Los Angeles Daily News and theThomson Newspapers group all published competing Ventura County newspapers.[6] TheCamarillo Daily News stopped publishing in December 1993.[6] The competing ThomsonOxnard Press-Courier last published on June 14, 1994.[7] The Thomson weekly newspapers, theCamarillo Sun andVentura Sun, also ceased publication.[7] TheSanta Paula Chronicle also ended publication.[7]
The paper dropped theFree-Press part of the name in November 1994.[8]
Scripps spun out its newspapers toJournal Media Group in April 2015,[9] andGannett acquired the Journal newspapers in April 2016.[10] Daily circulation was reported to be around 45,700 and its Sunday circulation at 58,600.[10]
After more than 10 years at the 550 Camarillo Center Drive location, the Ventura County Star announced in May 2018 that they were moving to a new office on East Daily Drive in Camarillo.[11]
From 1960 to 1987, the editor was Julius Gius.[12] Later, George Cogswell III was the publisher for five years, leaving in 2012 to be publisher and chief revenue officer ofThe Commercial Appeal inMemphis, Tennessee.[13][14][15][16] followed by Shanna Cannon.[17] As of October 2016, the president is Mark J. Winkler.[18]
In December 2008, Judge Ken Riley ordered theVentura County Star not to print the content of an affidavit, which the public defender representing defendant Calvin Sharp claimed could prejudice potential jurors.[19] Although unenforceable under the First Amendment by Judge Riley's own admission, he refused to lift the order.[20] Thisgag order was lifted by Judge Riley by December 15, 2008.[21][22] A redacted copy of that affidavit was made available on theVentura County Star web site.[23] Judge Riley would step down in January 2009.[24] Sharp's arraignment was delayed until March 2009.[25] Sharp was sentenced to life in prison in 2012.[25][26]
TheVentura County Star has faced many complaints that involved its circulation practices rather than its editorial content. As of April 2, 2011, the Better Business Bureau listed ten (10) separate "significant" complaints from the previous three years, of which two alleged the company made unauthorized debits from the customers' checking accounts, four alleged problems obtaining refunds, two alleged the company harassed a customer or former customer, two alleged improper billing, and two alleged delivery continued after customers tried to cancel.[27] (The number of allegations does not add to the total number of complaints because two of the complaints made multiple allegations.)
^"Ventura Star Press Turns | First Issue of Newspaper Printed by New Publisher".The Morning Press. Santa Barbara, California. June 16, 1925. p. 8.
^"Star Founder Is Called Suddenly | W.H. Porterfield Dies in San Diego after an Operation".Morning Free Press. Ventura, California. September 3, 1927. p. 1.
^"Robert P. Scripps, Newspaper Publisher, Here".Ventura County Star. September 9, 1931. p. 1.
^"Ventura "Free Press" Sold by Dan Emmett".Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. August 20, 1936. p. 11.
^"Scripps companies sign merger pact".Record Searchlight. Redding, California. March 14, 1986. p. 10.
^abcStein, M.L. -California Daily Closes. Two weeklies also closed, were part of the Thomson newspaper chain. Editor and Publisher Magazine, June 25, 1994
^Hadly, Scott -Judge Blocks Murder Case Story,Ventura County Star, December 11, 2008.Riley orders The Star not to publish sealed facts from Sharp documents
