| Type | Daily newspaper (Tuesday-Sunday) |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Santa Maria California News Media Inc. |
| Founder(s) | H.J. Laughlin S. Clevenger |
| Publisher | Terri Leifeste |
| Editor | Marga K. Cooley |
| Founded | April 1882 |
| Language | English |
| Circulation | 21,579(as of 2018) [1] |
| Sister newspapers | Lompoc Record , Santa Ynez Valley News |
| ISSN | 0745-6166 |
| Website | santamariatimes |
The Santa Maria Times is a daily American newspaper on California's Central Coast serving the cities of Santa Maria; Orcutt; Guadalupe; Nipomo; unincorporated parts of northern Santa Barbara County and southern San Luis Obispo County. [2] It is published Tuesday through Saturday, and is part of Santa Maria California News Media Inc., which also publishes the Lompoc Record and Santa Ynez Valley News, among other newspapers. [3]
The Santa Maria Times was first published on April 22, 1882. [4] [5] [6] The proprietor was H.J. Laughlin and S. Clevenger was the editor and manager. [7] Laughlin retired as part owner in March 1884 and was succeeded by Clevenger and George W. Jenkins. [8] [9] Ownership changed again in May 1887 to Jenkins and McGuire. [8]
A year later the Times expanded from a weekly to a twice-weekly. [9] In January 1894, O.W. Maulsby became editor while Jenkins continued to manage the business. [8] James F. Lyon leased the interest of McGuire in March 1896. [8] At that time the circulation was 1,200. [9]
C.A. Seay assumed full control of the Times in 1897 and was succeeded in 1902 by Julius Ebel. [8] In 1918, the Times became a daily. [10] The paper was bought by Orla M. Cannon in 1920, [11] Ernest L. Petersen in 1930, [12] Robert K. and Stanworth C. Hancock in 1938, [13] and the Kansas-based Stauffer Communications in 1948. [14]
In 1956, Earl J. Fenston bought the Times from Stauffer. [15] In 1958, Fenston Newspapers sold the Times and Hanford Sentinel to Scripps League Newspapers. [16] In 1996, Scrips was bought by Pulitzer, Inc. [17]
In 2005, Lee Enterprises acquired Pulitzer. [3] [18] In 2020, Lee sold the Santa Maria Times, Hanford Sentinel, Lompoc Record, Santa Ynez Valley News and others to Santa Maria California News Media Inc., a newly formed company led by a group of Canadian newspaper executives. [19]