.jpg) | |
| Type | Alternative weekly |
|---|---|
| Format | Tabloid |
| Owner(s) | San Francisco Newspaper Company LLC |
| Publisher | Marke Bieschke |
| Editor | Steven T. Jones |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | October 14, 2014 |
| Headquarters | 135 Mississippi St. San Francisco, California 94107 |
| Circulation | 106,708[1] |
| ISSN | 0036-4096 |
| Website | sfbg |
TheSan Francisco Bay Guardian was a freealternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014.[2] Parts of the paper were relaunched online in February 2016.
TheBay Guardian was founded in 1966 byBruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble.[3] It was known for reporting, celebrating, and promoting left-wing andprogressive issues within San Francisco and (albeit rarely) around theSan Francisco Bay Area as a whole. This usually includedmuckraking, legislation to control and limitgentrification, and endorsement of political candidates and other laws and policies that fall within its political views. TheBay Guardian handed out "Goldie Awards" annually for excellence in the arts and similar areas.
It also printed movie and music reviews, an annual nude beaches issue, and an annual sex issue. TheBay Guardian was one of several alternative newspapers in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, includingSF Weekly (formerly its major competitor, now under the same ownership),East Bay Express,Metro Silicon Valley,North Bay Bohemian, Marin'sPacific Sun, andBerkeley Daily Planet.
In 1971, it publishedThe Ultimate Highrise, on the costs of development to the city. In 1975, it publishedSan Francisco Free & Easy: The Native's Guidebook with a revised edition in 1980, edited byWilliam Ristow.
TheBay Guardian put down an attempt by its employees to unionize in the 1970s. In 1975,Bay Guardian staffers, with the aid of Newspaper Guild Local 52 and International Typographical Union Local 21, signed union cards to seek higher wages and benefits. The paper had previously won a legal settlement and moved to a new building. Nevertheless, publisherBruce Brugmann claimed there were not enough funds to increase pay or benefits. The day after Thanksgiving, he fired five senior staffers who had helped organize the union effort. Newspaper staffers voted to join theNewspaper Guild and, on June 15, 1976, they called astrike to force Brugmann to offer a labor contract. Brugmann retained a few management staff and hiredstrikebreaker replacements. In August,César Chávez offered to mediate the strike, but Brugmann refused. Finally, in 1977, another election was called, but this time votes by replacement workers carried the day and the new staff voted not to join a union.[4]
Starting in 1974, theBay Guardian published an annual "Best of The Bay" issue that listed the best restaurants, business, and activities in the Bay Area, based on a readers' poll and staff recommendations. TheBay Guardian claimed that its "Best Of" issue was the first annual guide of its kind and was copied by other publications.[citation needed]
In March 2008, theBay Guardian won apredatory pricing lawsuit against its local rival,SF Weekly, based on allegations thatSF Weekly undercut theBay Guardian by selling display advertisements below cost while supporting itself on cash infusions from its parent,Village Voice Media, in an effort to force theBay Guardian into bankruptcy. In May 2008 the judge in the case awardedpunitive damages, raising the jury's $6.3 million award to $15.9 million, and issuing aninjunction prohibiting theSF Weekly from selling advertisements below cost.[5]
On April 19, 2012, theEast Bay Express reported that the Canadian owners ofThe San Francisco Examiner were in negotiations with theBay Guardian to buy the newspaper. These rumors were initially denied by its executive editor Tim Redmond,[6][7] but the sale went through a week later.[8]
On January 15, 2013, their longstanding rivalSF Weekly was sold to the San Francisco Newspaper Group, which publishes theBay Guardian.[9][10]
In mid-June 2013,San Francisco Business Times and other publications reported that Tim Redmond had "been ousted" as publisher and editor. TheBay Guardian issued a statement quoting new publisher Stephen Buel as saying, "TheGuardian has been losing money, and we were forced to contemplate some editorial layoffs. Tim decided to resign rather than follow through with what we were discussing." However, Redmond denied resigning.[11][12]
On October 14, 2014, publisher Glenn Zuehls announced that the San Francisco Media Co., which also ownsSF Weekly, had decided to close the publication. The 40th annual Best of the Bay issue, published on the same day, was the weekly publication's final issue.[13]
Following theBay Guardian's closure, its laid-off staff launched theBay Guardian-in-Exile Project, which included a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo that raised more than $25,000 to help preserve the paper's archives and produce a final commemorative edition of theBay Guardian, which was released on Jan. 22, 2015 and distributed in conjunction with the San Francisco Public Press and Gum Road.[14]
In October 2015, the Bay Guardian's print and digital archives were handed over to the San Francisco Center for Newspaper Preservation, a newly founded nonprofit organization led by Marke Bieschke (the paper's former publisher) and Tim Redmond.[15] In January 2016, they announced that a "Bring Back the Bay Guardian" crowdfunding campaign and other donations had yielded enough funds to secure the archives and relaunch severalBay Guardian features, included "Best of the Bay".[16]
With Bieschke, Redmond now publishes48 Hills, a separate site focusing on San Francisco politics that Redmond founded in 2014 after leaving theBay Guardian.[15]
