The Bay Area Reporter distributed its first edition on April 1, 1971. While publisher Bob Aaron Ross may have chosen April Fool’s Day as as a light-hearted start for the gay community’s latest bar “rag,” the newspaper would go on to do serious journalism, covering the major events of the post-Stonewall era.
Media
Clint Reilly, S.F. Examiner’s New Owner, Vows to Expand Paper’s Newsroom, Coverage
Clint Reilly, the soon-to-be owner of the San Francisco Examiner intends to grow the publication’s newsroom and expand its coverage, diversifying the perspectives in San Francisco’s news ecosystem. Clint Reilly, a retired political consultant with a real estate and hospitality business who also owns two local magazines, is purchasing the Examiner and SF Weekly after the two papers were under absentee ownership for years. The company he owns along with his wife Janet, Clint Reilly Communications, will take over in January.
Arts & Culture
Lessons From S.F. Mime Troupe’s Move From Live Events to Radio Plays
The San Francisco Mime Troupe has been performing socially conscious and often very funny productions in Bay Area parks since 1959 and was preparing for its summer series of live shows when the COVID-19 pandemic made that impossible.
The Troupe has been releasing half-hour radio plays for the last 10 weeks and now, with the first series, “Tales of the Resistance,” coming to an end, we wanted to find out how the move from live to radio play has worked out.
From the Newsroom
Criticism Highlights the Case for Responsible Accountability Journalism
The website SFist on Thursday accused the San Francisco Public Press of inaccurate reporting and fabricating a source in an article on a private company that cleared a homeless street encampment last month. These allegations are false. The Public Press stands behind our story and two follow-up articles by reporter Nuala Bishari.
Arts & Culture
KXSF Audience Grows During Pandemic
When you tune your radio to 102.5 FM in San Francisco, depending on the time of day, you might hear public radio style talk programming, or you might hear music from local artists. That’s because two radio stations share the frequency — KSFP, from the San Francisco Public Press, and KXSF, a project of San Francisco Community Radio. Carolyn Keddy and Ellie Stokes, two DJs at KXSF, joined us on “Civic” to talk about their experience working with scores of volunteers who bring a broad array of music and cultural programming to the airwaves and to the station’s live stream at kxsf.fm.
“Civic” Podcast
‘Civic’ Marks One Year of In-Depth Community Radio Reporting
One year ago The San Francisco Public Press launched Civic, its flagship radio program and podcast, on our low-power radio station KSFP at 102.5 FM. Since then Civic has delivered in depth election reporting, interviewed community leaders, and explored the homelessness crisis, the housing shortage and inequality.
Government & Politics
‘Unforgetting’ Confronts Painful Personal, Political Histories of U.S. and Central America
Difficult and painful history connects gang violence and severe policing in Central America and in the United States, as well as mass migrations of refugees. In his new memoir, “Unforgetting,” Roberto Lovato teases out these connections with research and reporting, but also by telling his own story of coming of age as a U.S.-born child of Salvadoran parents and the stories of his family and friends. Lovato, born and raised in San Francisco, is an educator, journalist and writer. His book “Unforgetting” will be released Sept. 1.
From the Newsroom
How ‘Civic’ Is Produced and Broadcast From Home
Under shelter-in-place orders, the Public Press staff has been producing the local current affairs program “Civic” from home, conducting interviews remotely and managing a radio station at a distance.
Media
New Magazine Offers Tribute to San Francisco Subcultures
Some local bookstores carry a colorful magazine that looks like the New Yorker of the west coast. This is the San Franciscan, a new print magazine with a mission to “celebrate the diverse subcultures of San Francisco and the Bay Area through humor and criticism, but always with utmost sincerity and pride.”
Media
As Newspapers Decline, Some Pursue Nonprofit Model
Bay Area reporters recently rallied to call for better working conditions as they continue contract negotiations with their employer, a media group owned by a hedge fund. To get a sense of where the local news industry is headed, we spoke with Dan Kennedy, associate professor of journalism at Northeastern University.
Media
Journalists Rally for Better Working Conditions at Hedge Fund-Owned Papers
Journalists at several Bay Area newspapers are in contract negotiations with their employers, which are publications owned by a hedge fund that has a reputation for taking over and gutting newspapers around the country in order to increase profits.