The Palisadian-Post building, which was located on Via de la Paz, was sold by owner Alan Smolinisky. He moved operations to office space in the 881 Alma Real Building, before relocating the town’s newspaper to Canoga Park in 2023.
The Palisadian-Post after 97 years in existence, printed its last edition on December 11, 2025. The community found out the weekly, then bi-monthly printed paper was ceasing publication though a story in the L.A. Times and via the Post’s Facebook (“A Note of Grief – And of Hope”).
Current owner Alan Smolinisky wrote on the paper’s website, “Our reporters have chased their last stories. Our presses have printed their last copies. Our corner newsstands have opened for the last time. After the unimaginable sorrow and destruction of the past year, losing this beloved institution feels like a final blow.”
Smolinisky who bought the paper in 2012, blamed the Palisades Fire as the deciding factor to shut the paper down. He wrote that there was a lack of customers, subscriptions had fallen and there were no businesses to buy ads.
Bill Bruns, a resident since 1972, and editor of the Post from 1993 to 2013 told CTN “This is indeed a sad day for anyone who treasures the town’s history and appreciates the vital role played by community newspapers across the country.
“At its prime in the early 2000s, when real estate advertising helped support an 8-person editorial staff and weekly issues averaged 32 pages, the Post was an institution in Pacific Palisades,” Bruns said. “Our subscribers loved staying in touch with what was happening at the Community Council, the Chamber of Commerce, various local organizations, a dozen schools, sports teams, Page 2 (an editorial, opinion pieces, Letters to the Editor and the infamous Two Cents column), the full-page Lifestyle feature every Thursday, obituaries, our regular columns (Young Palisadians, Palisadians on the Move and Business Briefs), and the monthly special sections that often focused on the town’s history.
“Sadly, those days are no longer,” Bruns said.
Smolinisky told the L.A. Times in January 2013 (shortly after he acquired the Post), in an article titled (“Pacific Palisades Newspaper Junkie Buys His Own Paper”) that “Pacific Palisades is my favorite place on Earth, and the Palisadian-Post is my favorite newspaper” and “I have a moral obligation to make sure this newspaper is published every Thursday for as long as I live.”
The paper started publication in 1928 as The Palisadian. A second paper, the Pacific Palisades Post was established in the community, and in 1960 the two papers merged into the Palisadian Post.
This editor started working at the paper in 2005 when it was a thriving publication. Perhaps the most exciting aspect was the back shop where the paper was printed. Weekly the crew worked to get the printing exactly right, and it was exciting watching the paper come off the press, being folded, then loaded, to be distributed to newsboxes and to the Post Office. The printing crew also did announcements, flyers and Christmas Cards.
After Smoliniski purchased the paper, he fired the back shop employees in December without warning. Printing of the paper was now shipped to an outside source. Publisher Roberta Donahue successfully went to the prior owner to secure bonuses for back shop employees.
Then the receptionist/subscriptions, publisher, financial officer, and two graphic workers were fired. Not long after, those on the editorial staff were told the building had been sold and the newspaper was moving to an office location in the 881 Alma Real Building.
Slowly, one by one everyone on the staff, including ad representatives, the last graphic designer, the editor, and five writers were fired. The only employee to survive the purge was photographer Rich Schmitt.
Over the next years, the editorial staff turnover was extensive. The one saving grace was sportswriter Steve Galluzzo was hired. (He had not been part of the staff when Smoliniski bought the building.)
In March 2023, photographer Rich Schmitt was let go and in April 2023, the paper stopped printing weekly and went every two weeks.
The Palisadian-Post relocated from Pacific Palisades to Canoga Park in December 2023.
Alan Smolinisky, center, talks with Palisadian-Post publisher Roberta Donohue, left, staff writer Laurie Rosenthal and managing editor Bill Bruns while visiting the Pacific Palisades office in a photo taken in 2013.
(Jay L. Clendenin / Los Angeles Times)
Smoliniski, who is part-owner of the Dodgers, did not lose his home in the Palisades Fire. He wrote “even as I’m filled with grief, I’m filled with hope. . .and maybe in time, we’ll restore this treasured institution. A town like ours needs a newspaper.”
(Editor’s note: Sports editor Steve Galluzzo is an encyclopedia of Palisades sports. How can we keep him here?)
The paper’s quality decreased substantially after Smoliniski bought it. I, for one, canceled my long-time subscription shortly after his purchase. Its demise is nothing to mourn.
Ouch! It hurt my heart to learn the Palisadian Post is ceasing publication. Just like small businesses, especially agriculture, are the backbone of a nation’s economy, weekly newspapers are the backbone of a community’s civic and social life. I truly hope Alan Smolinisky can find a way to start republishing the Post soon. Local information about local people and local events are the cohesive glue that keeps readers’ egos in check, thus elevating a community to higher moral standards and a respected reputation. As many people know, one’s reputation is their most valuable possession. Thank you.
I rely on YOUR reporting Sue.
Argh, ugh…and tears. I, and my mother before me, read every issue, cover to cover, for over 65 years. Being born and raised in the Palisades, I stayed in touch with my hometown through The Palisadian Post. My mother and grandmother were memorialized when they passed. From ’71 to ’74, I lived in London, then in Paris. My job entailed traveling to and from Los Angeles. I’d grab an issue to keep current with my hometown. So, January 7, 2025, and now this. No one’s going to turn out the lights… not while we still have Circling the News. Thank you!
All this means is Smolinsky is going to hold onto the intellectual property that is the palisadian post and all that is left of value and no one else will be able to republish it or save it.
Crocodile tears. Smolinisky is a jerk with too much money who ruined the Palisadian Post. Just another rich guy who thinks he knows how to do everything.
I think everybody saw the writing on the wall years ago…2025 claims another victim. But wait, a “non-profit” could start a new paper as there seems to be unlimited amounts of money flowing into and out of them, assuring the endeavor’s long-term survival. Sue with the inflation of the last 5 years maybe you could run a Friday “2 Bits” column?
From the moment Smolinisky bought the paper, no-one in the town had anything favorable to say about him or his policies. It was said that he bought the Post so he could sell the building. He did ruin the Palisades Post. Like our town will someday rise from the ashes, hopefully another publication will rise and take form. Sue, what are you doing with the rest of your life?