Santa Barbara's publishing world was taken by surprise last Wednesday when the editor in chief of the online magazine Pacific Standard announced the national publication was closing. Founded in 2008 by SAGE Publications, which is owned by Santa Barbara philanthropist Sara Miller McCune, Pacific Standard had mustered a decade's worth of in-depth pieces covering social and environmental justice and public policy. The editor, Nick Jackson, tweeted on August 7: "Today is an extremely difficult day, the worst day—and I’m heart-broken and devastated. We learned this morning, without any warning, that our primary funder is cutting off all charitable giving and that our board is shutting down."
The magazine's 24 employees, including several recent hires, had nine days to tie up loose ends at their Santa Barbara offices, which closed August 16. Many of its freelancers turned to Twitter to express their sadness over the loss of the publication and frustration that the stories they'd been working on might not see the light of day. Jackson stated he'd known about the closing since Monday and had been trying to negotiate better compensation packages for his employees.
"It was one of the most difficult decisions I've ever made," said SAGE Publications' CEO Blaise Simqu. "I am enormously proud of what Pacific Standard accomplished as a magazine, and its journalists, in terms of reporting, not just the awards, but the stories they created." Simqu said he'd recommended on July 30 the closure of Pacific Standard as it had just enough money left to form compensation packages for the employees who would be laid off. A month's delay would change that picture, he said.
Today is an extremely difficult day, the worst day—and I’m heart-broken and devastated. We learned this morning, without any warning, that our primary funder is cutting off all charitable giving and that our board is shutting down @PacificStand, effective next Friday.
— Nicholas Jackson (@nbj914) August 7, 2019