Ventura County Star
Encyclopedia
History and Ownership
It was founded in 1925 by the John P. Scripps Newspaper GroupJohn P. Scripps Newspaper Group
John P. Scripps Newspapers was an American newspaper chain founded by John P. Scripps, a grandson of E.W. Scripps, in 1928, and headquartered in San Diego. Its newspapers were concentrated in the western United States. The E. W. Scripps Company bought John P...
, which merged with E. W. Scripps in 1986.
Around 1936, the Star acquired the Ventura Free Press (which was founded in 1875), and began publishing as the Ventura County Star-Free Press in 1938. It dropped the Free-Press addition in November 1994.
It is now owned by the E. W. Scripps Company
E. W. Scripps Company
The E. W. Scripps Company is an American media conglomerate founded by Edward W. Scripps on November 2, 1878. The company is headquartered inside the Scripps Center in Cincinnati, Ohio. Its corporate motto is "Give light and the people will find their own way."On October 16, 2007, the company...
.
Leadership
The editor from 1960-1987 was Julius Gius.As of April 2, 2011, the current publisher is George Cogswell III.
Controversies
Unlike many newspapers, the Ventura 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 unauthorized debits from the customers' checking accounts, four alleged problems obtaining refunds, two alleged the company harassed a customer or former customer, two alleged the improper billing, and two alleged delivery continued after customers tried to cancel. (The number of allegations does not add to the total number of complaints because two of the complaints made multiple allegations.)In 2008, Judge Ken Riley ordered the Ventura County Star not to print the content of an affidavit that the public defender representing defendant Calvin Sharp claimed could prejudice potential jurors. This "gag" order is no longer in effect, and a redacted copy of that affidavit is now online.