Oxnard Press-Courier
Front page of January 2, 1994 issue
TypeDaily
Owner(s)Thomson Newspapers (1967-94)
Brush-Moore Newspapers (1963-67)
George Grimes (1945-63)
Ceased publicationJune 16, 1994[1]
HeadquartersOxnard, California
United States
Circulation17,325 (1992)

The Oxnard Press-Courier was a newspaper located in Oxnard, California, United States. It ceased publication in June 1994 after 95 years.[1][2] In 1992, its daily circulation was 17,325.[3]

History

The paper traced its origins to the Oxnard Courier which was a weekly paper established in 1899. A daily edition, obviously named the Daily Oxnard-Courier, started publication in June 1909.[4] The Oxnard Press-Courier was the name adopted in 1940, reflecting a consolidation of the Oxnard Evening Press, Oxnard Daily Courier, and Oxnard News.

George and Eva Grimes, and David Calvert and his wife, purchased the paper in March 1945, when it had a circulation of 1,200.[5][6][7][8]

In 1963, the Brush-Moore Newspapers group bought the paper.[9] In 1967, Brush-Moore sold the paper to Thomson Newspapers as part of a sale of 12 papers, for $72 million, in what was the largest ever newspaper transaction at that time.[10] Thomson owned the paper until it shut down in June 1994, citing a poor economy and a competitive newspaper market in Ventura County.[1] That competition included the Los Angeles Times, which in 1990 began publishing a daily Ventura County edition, replacing a weekly Ventura County section of the paper.[1]

Today, news from the Oxnard City Council and the boards of education are now published in the Ventura County Star.

1940s Associated Press dispute

A U.S. District Court in Los Angeles awarded the Associated Press a $3,780 judgement against Press-Courier publisher Dan W. Emmett on June 20, 1942, for attempting to withdraw from the A.P. without giving two years' notice as required by the association's bylaws. Judge Leon R. Yankwich stated that when Emmett refused to accept service and, without notice, failed to pay his weekly assessment, he became liable for 104 weeks' assessments in a lump sum based on the rate Emmett paid in May 1940 when he entered the contract.[11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Oxnard Paper to Call It Quits Thursday, Los Angeles Times, June 14, 1994 ("The 95-year-old Oxnard Press-Courier will publish its last edition Thursday, making it the third newspaper to cease publication in Ventura County in the past 11⁄2 years. Citing the state's troubled economy and the county's competitive newspaper market, newspaper officials announced Monday that the Press-Courier could no longer afford to stay in business. Toronto-based Thomson Newspapers, which owns the Press-Courier, is also publisher of the San Gabriel Valley Newspapers in Los Angeles County.")
  2. ^ OXNARD PRESS-COURIER TO CLOSE AFTER 95 YEARS, Los Angeles Daily News, June 14, 1994
  3. ^ New Press-Courier Publisher Arrives, Los Angeles Times, June 2, 1992
  4. ^ (30 June 1909). Vol. 1, Issue 1, Daily Oxnard Courier
  5. ^ (1 March 1945). The Press Courier is Sold, Oxnard Press-Courier
  6. ^ Eva Miller Grimes (Obituary), Sarasota Herald-Tribune, December 2, 1991 (notes that she and husband George Grimes bought the paper in 1945 and grew its circulation from 1,200 to 16,000 at the time of sale)
  7. ^ Publisher G. G. Grimes Dies at 69, Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1964
  8. ^ Six of Family Work on Staff of Newspaper, Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1948
  9. ^ "Ohio Company Buys Oxnard Press-Courier". Los Angeles Times. January 17, 1963. p. 21. ProQuest 168243424. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012.
  10. ^ 12 Brush-Moore Newspapers Sold to Thomson, The New York Times, August 26, 1967
  11. ^ Associated Press, "'A. P.' Awarded Damages For Violated Contract", Sunday 21 June 1942, Volume 60, Number 38, page 5.

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