The Bakersfield Californian

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The Bakersfield Californian

The July 27, 2005 front page
of The Bakersfield Californian
Type Daily newspaper
Format Broadsheet

Owner The Bakersfield Californian
Publisher Virginia F. Moorhouse
Editor Mike Jenner
Founded 1866
Language English
Price $.50 Mon-Sat, $1.50 Sun
Headquarters 1707 Eye Street
Bakersfield, CA 93301
U.S.
Circulation 70,000

Website: bakersfield.com

The Bakersfield Californian is the daily newspaper serving Bakersfield, California and surrounding Kern County in the state's San Joaquin Valley.

Contents

[edit] History

The Californian is a direct descendant of the first paper published in the region, The Daily Courier in 1866. The Weekly Courier was published in the mining town of Havilah, California, about 50 miles northeast of Bakerfield. The newspaper moved to Bakersfield in 1872 and changed the name to The Kern County Weekly Courier. In 1876, the Courier merged with The Southern Californian, another local newspaper, and became The Kern County Californian. The newspaper's name was changed to The Daily Californian in 1891. The Kern County superintendent of schools, Alfred Harrell, purchased the newspaper in 1897, and renamed it The Bakersfield Californian in 1907, and ever since then the newspaper has been in the control of the Harrell-Fritts family and is currently run by Virginia F. Moorhouse, who is the great-granddaughter of Alfred Harrell.

Prior to 1980, former Bakersfield Mayor Mary K. Shell worked as a reporter and columnist for The Californian.

[edit] Other Publications

The Californian runs several other publications in Kern County including the Tehachapi News, Mas, The Northwest Voice, and The Southwest Voice. Mas is a free, weekly magazine aimed at the large Hispanic population of Kern. The Voice magazines started with a simple blog style website where people could submit stories regarding the side of town, the blog became so popular that a free print version soon arrived. The staff of the Voice magazines consists of only a few editors to look through all of the online submissions and decide which are to be printed.

[edit] Awards

In 2004, the paper received the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism for its coverage of the stabbing death of an assistant district attorney.

[edit] External links