Our hearts go out to the Berkeley community upon news that it is losing another newspaper. The Chronicle reported today that the Berkeley Daily Planet will stop printing because of an unbridgeable gap of "hundreds of thousands" of dollars. The owners, Becky and Mike O’Malley, will continue to publish the paper online, they said, and […]
Author Archives: Michael Stoll
Michael Stoll is senior editor and co-founder of the San Francisco Public Press. Formerly executive director, he has also been a reporter and freelance writer for local and national outlets, including the San Francisco Examiner and the Philadelphia Inquirer. He has taught journalism at two Bay Area universities, and researched media ethics. He was selected as the 2026 medial fellow with the Bill Lane Center for the American West at Stanford.
Posted inNews
San Francisco wants state to pay $2 million for trial costs
Members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors introduced a resolution Tuesday that urges state officials to reimburse the city $2 million in legal fees stemming from a controversial case. In 2007, California Attorney General Jerry Brown pressed charges against eight men for the death of a San Francisco police sergeant, after San Francisco District Attorney Kamala Harris refused to prosecute. […]
Posted inBay Bridge, News
Graphic illustration: the Bay Bridge
The east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in graphic illustration. Design by Eleven: Greg Hathaway, Darlene Gibson, Stella Trenggono & Liz Gershman.
Posted inNews
SF underground radio busted, fined by regulators
A San Francisco community radio station has been forced off the public airwaves after 13 years of broadcasting. Pirate Cat Radio, a volunteer-run station housed in a café in the Mission District and heard on 87.9 FM, was fined $10,000 by the Federal Communications Commission and ordered to stop its broadcasts, according to the station’s Web […]
Posted inFrom the Newsroom, News
An update for the Bay Bridge investigation with McSweeney’s
OUR LATEST FUND APPEAL ON SPOT.US An exciting thing about pushing boundaries in journalism is looking back at space you’ve carved out along the way. If you’ve followed the Bay Bridge project since its announcement two weeks ago you will notice a slight repositioning, not of the editorial (which will be the subject of our […]
Posted inNews
No resolution on immigrant youth sanctuary policy
Immigrant rights groups are lashing out at Mayor Gavin Newsom after he refused to honor approved legislation meant to delay immigration authorities’ involvement in criminal cases involving undocumented youths. A coalition of immigrant parents and advocates gathered on the steps of San Francisco City Hall Tuesday to express their anger over Newsom’s response. […]
Posted inFrom the Newsroom, News
Public Press and McSweeney’s seeking public’s support on Bay Bridge investigative report
UPDATE 10/22/09: Read Bay Bridge project reporter Patricia Decker’s blog post on what it means to go deep on a big story: "Keeping bias at bay in investigative journalism." UDPATE 10/27/09: With matching funds, we’re already halfway to our goal for paying reporters and expenses: "An update for the Bay Bridge investigation with McSweeney’s" The […]
Posted inFrom the Newsroom, News
KALW Radio’s Kernan wins top award from local SPJ
We make a policy of not to load up the blog with press releases, but this is one I feel a strong connection with, as it came from a journalism organization I work with. I was really pleased to see Holly Kernan of KALW Public Radio’s "Crosscurrents" news program win the journalist-of-the-year award from the […]
Posted inNews
CSU hikes fees 20 percent, will cut 40,000 students
By John Hornberg The Public Press In an effort to close a $584 million budget shortfall for the coming year, the California State University’s board of trustees has approved a 20 percent fee increase for coming school year, its second such increase in the last three months, the Los Angeles Times has reported. Along with […]
Posted inFrom the Newsroom, News
The Watchdog Mixer: Help us investigate city budget cutbacks
Give, drink and talk it up with our City Budget Watchdog team — local journalists who need your support to continue a reporting project on municipal cutbacks, jointly sponsored by The Public Press and Spot.us. You’ll have a chance talk to our journalists about the stories they’ve covered so far and hear about the reporting […]