The Fullerton Observer – A story of family and perseverance
The Fullerton Observer is an all-volunteer newspaper that has been serving the Fullerton community since 1978. The paper was founded by Ralph and Natalie Kennedy along with a handful of others including Roy and Irene Kobayashi. Irene still works on the paper to this day.
The story of the Fullerton Observer is as much a story about a local newspaper as it is the story of one family and the patriarch of that family, Ralph Kennedy. Kennedy was an aerospace engineer who designed navigational systems for the Apollo spacecraft. In the late 1950’s Kennedy and his wife Natalie, who was a school teacher, became gradually more involved in the civil rights movement.
A major issue facing Fullerton at the time was housing discrimination. Ralph and Natalie Kennedy, along with other members of the community, fought back against those restrictions and would go on to found the Fullerton Fair Housing Council.
By 1968, Ralph Kennedy was dedicating more of his time to social issues and decided to leave his day job behind.
In a 1997 Los Angeles Times article, Kennedy said, “It was wonderful exploring the problems of space travel, and exciting and technically challenging, but there were so many problems here on Earth, I decided to dedicate myself to solving some of those.”
After two failed runs for the Fullerton City Council in 1976 and 1978, Ralph Kennedy along with family and friends started the Fullerton Observer. At 54 years old without a journalism background, Kennedy became an editor, publisher and journalist. Kennedy didn’t find journalism; journalism found him.
Over the next 19 years, Kennedy would become an important journalistic voice for the City of Fullerton. He was often seen riding his bike around town, photographing the city and seeking out stories.
When Ralph Kennedy passed away in 1998 from cancer, it left a void in the community, but it also left questions about the survival of the Fullerton Observer.
Sharon Kennedy, Ralph and Natalie’s daughter, would take over the paper and run it for the next 22 years. Sharon Kennedy built her own legacy, continuing the work of her parents and becoming an important voice for Fullerton in her own right.
In 2020 Sharon Kennedy stepped down from the paper, again leaving the future of the Fullerton Observer in question.
Saskia Kennedy, pronounced sauce, as in apple sauce, and Kia, as in the car, along with Jesse Le Tour and Matthew Leslie, would step in and purchase the paper from Sharon Kennedy, Saskia’s mother.
Although Saskia Kennedy is carrying the tradition of the paper into a third generation of Kennedy, she has been away from it for the last 20 years.
It’s been a year of transition for the Fullerton Observer as well as Kennedy herself: “I’ve been back since October, so I’m the newbie.”
The Fullerton Observer has had challenges beyond just new ownership. It experienced a dramatic drop in advertising due to the pandemic. Advertising is the paper's primary source of funds to cover expenses.
The paper also has a subscriber base which, as Kennedy says, “It’s impressive because it’s free. It’s free in print and it’s free online.” Subscribers support the paper because they believe in its mission, but it’s not enough to cover expenses on its own.
As the pandemic winds down, advertising has picked up, though, and the new ownership continues to find its footing. The little paper that could has defied odds for 43 years and remained true to it mission. A mission defined by a love of Fullerton and a dedication to its readership.
As Saskia says, “The better and more lively and robust our community is, the better it is for everyone.”
The Fullerton Observer is free and can be found at any of their 11 local newsstands. Anyone wanting to support independent local journalism can purchase a subscription on their website. It's $35 annually for 21 issues.
