A Pacific Palisades on the rebound gets its century-old newspaper back

At the end of last year, community newspaper the Palisadian-Post shuttered its doors after 97 years in operation.

Subscriptions evaporated after January’s fires, as did advertisers, according to a departing message from former owner Alan Smolinisky.

In the months since, a pair of longtime Palisades residents have stepped up to acquire the beloved community paper.

Under new management

“The Palisadian-Post was a part of the reason we moved to Pacific Palisades, because the paper's role in providing a part of the character of the community was that strong,” said Tim Schneider, co-owner of the new Palisadian-Post.

Schneider had tried to buy the paper before — 24 years ago, when he and his family first moved to the Pacific Palisades.

“We've chronicled our children growing up in the pages of the Palisadian-Post, like a lot of Palisadians,” said Laura Schneider, also co-owner of the newspaper.

The married couple comes from long careers in the publishing industry. When they heard about the paper shutting down last December, they sprang into action and began negotiating a purchase.

Tim says that despite the struggles the community faces, it’s a dream come true to have the chance to continue a nearly century-old tradition with the Pali-Post.

Laura (left) and Tim Schneider (right) , the new owners of the Palisadian-Post, pose for a picture.

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Suzanne Trepp

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Palisadian-Post

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Something old, something new

The paper’s relaunch is set for May 4, the paper's 98th anniversary.

“The first step in the relaunch process is going to be gathering community feedback,” said Laura.

The two have been making calls to former employees and residents of the Palisades, looking for input on what they want out of this new iteration. One thing they say they’d like to see is a sustained focus on the recovery.

“ He needs to hire a news reporter who's focused on the rebuilding of the Palisades. That's a huge theme, obviously, all the aspects of the rebuilding,” said Bill Bruns, editor emeritus with the Palisadian-Post. Bruns was a longtime editor who's been advising the Schneiders on the relaunch.

After January, Tim says people went to various sources to get information to track the Palisade Fire's chaotic aftermath. He thinks a newspaper like the Pali-Post is a better place to provide readers with authoritative and reliable information.

He says he wants the paper to be a central information hub for the thousands of Palisadians who have been displaced.

“ We have 5,000 Palisadians living in Santa Monica, more than 3,000 Palisadians living in Brentwood," he estimated. "So our approach with the Palisadian-Post is to use it as the connective thread that ties together Palisadians."

Former Pali-Post editor Bill Bruns stands in front of the old "Pacific Palisades Post" building on Via de la Paz. The building held the newsroom as well as the paper's printing press.

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Bill Bruns

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Bill Bruns

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Staging a comeback

In its new iteration, the paper will be strictly digital, with a new website, daily newsletter and community calendar to give readers a full range of events in the neighborhood — recovery-related or otherwise.

In time, the couple hopes to bring back a physical edition of the paper.

Several former advertisers the Schneiders have talked to are committed to coming back.

“ I'm happy to say, not only have all of them committed to supporting the new Palisadian-Post, but we've heard from dozens of businesses that have indicated an interest in getting involved for the first time,” said Tim.

Beloved favorite columns of the paper are returning too, like the local Two-Cents section written by residents.

The first event planned is going to be the "Pali Bee" — the local Spelling Bee that the newspaper sponsored in previous years.

Laura says that despite the last 15 months of difficulties, the sense of community in the Palisades remains strong. The two hope that strength will get the newspaper and the community back on its feet.

“ That's something very special about this town, and that's something that we hope that we can tap into as we bring the Palisadian-Post back," Laura said. "This town has tremendous heart. And that's a big part of the story that we wanna tell."