Saying the newspaper's future "burned up in the fire," the owner of the 97-year-old Palisadian-Post in Pacific Palisades announced Thursday that the publication is ceasing operations -- another victim of January's Palisades Fire.
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"This time last year, we still had a future," Alan Smolinisky wrote in a message to readers Thursday. "But it burned up in the fire, like most of the town. We lost the few businesses that still bought advertising. They were either destroyed or had no customers. Worst of all, we lost the one thing we can't do without -- our readers. The Palisades became a ghost town in the wake of the fire. Subscriptions basically fell to zero. It's completely understandable. But you can't print a newspaper nobody reads.
"Many people knew this was coming. I've been floored by the letters of support we've received in the last year. Longtime readers even sent us donations -- a few bucks here, a hundred-dollar bill there. That community spirit, that deep generosity, speaks volumes about this special place we all call home. And it says something profound about our shared future.
"Pacific Palisades has never been defined by a paper. We're defined by our people, who are just as committed to the town as ever. By the grace of God, my home was one of the few that didn't burn down. We're not going anywhere. My daughter and I recently drove through the Alphabet Streets and counted 40 homes under construction. People are coming back, slowly but surely. And make no mistake: We are not just rebuilding the Palisades -- we are forging a stronger, more resilient town than ever before."
Smolinisky wrote that he's filled with grief over the paper's loss, but also filled with home as the rebuilding effort continues in the fire- ravaged community.
"We'll welcome a new generation of families to town," he wrote. "And maybe, in time, we'll restore this treasured institution. A town like ours needs a newspaper. Today, however, this is goodbye. But today is also a day of gratitude."
According to the paper's website, the first edition of The Palisadian was published on May 4, 1928, by Telford Work, a USC journalism graduate who had put together a small chain of newspapers in the Fresno area. The paper began as a weekly eight-page tabloid.
In 1934, Work sold the paper to Clifford Clearwater, who had no background in journalism but led the paper as editor, publisher and photographer until he died in 1956. His wife Zola took over the paper, but in 1960, she sold it to twin brothers Charles and William Brown, who already owned a separate paper known as Pacific Palisades Post, which was founded in 1950. The two papers consolidated operations, and the Browns ran it until 1981, when they sold it to the Small family, who controlled it until 2012, when Smolinisky purchased it.
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