Media

A man and a woman sitting on either side of a small table in front of a fireplace speak into handheld microphones. A sign hanging over the fireplace reads "San Francisco Public Press."

Audience Trust Essential Amid Attacks on Media, DEI and Democracy, PBS Public Editor Says

05.14.2025

By Public Press staff, Editor

The San Francisco Public Press on April 30, 2025, hosted a fireside chat with Ricardo Sandoval-Palos, the public editor at PBS, and Lila LaHood, executive director of the Public Press, about recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion, and threats to democracy and the media.

In addition to discussing how journalists can do better covering issues their audiences care about in a political environment fraught with conflict, how PBS engages with listeners and viewers about their critiques and concerns, and why public media newsrooms aim to reflect the diversity of the communities they serve, Sandoval-Palos and LaHood talked about what might happen if the federal government were to cut funding to PBS and NPR, which receive a portion of their budgets from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.

The next day, President Donald Trump signed an executive order attempting to do just that.

two men in a laboratory, one in a white lab coat and another in a gas mask and full-body hazard suit, posing in a black-and-white photo

Public Press Wins 2025 Izzy Award for Series Investigating Human Radiation Experimentation

A woman with shoulder-length brown hair wearing glasses and a dark top types on a laptop in the foreground of a photo illustration with images of three other people and other images in the background, including one with text that reads "democracy depends on journalism." The name of the film appears in large red and white letters — "Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink" — with additional text below: "a film by two-time Acadamy Award-niminee Rick Goldsmith."

Film Screening: ‘Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink’

Why Do Governments Keep Information From the Public? A Veteran Journalist Weighs In

The 102.5 FM transmitter antenna is located on the second level of Sutro Tower.

San Francisco’s 102.5 FM Is Back on the Air

Media

Ricardo Sandoval-Palos is the public editor at PBS.

PBS Public Editor Says Complaints Can Spark Community Conversations

06.10.2022

By Lila LaHood, Publisher

With the proliferation of social media channels, misinformation and disinformation now spread as fast as the click of a trackpad. Even for a trusted outlet like PBS — nationally recognized for its family friendly programming and sober, nonpartisan news coverage — this era has brought a flood of digital rumors to quell.

As the public editor at PBS, Ricardo Sandoval-Palos fields complaints for the organization and uses community feedback to cultivate conversations between viewers and PBS’s creative teams.

Elections

Ballotpedia Strives to Earn Voters’ Trust With Comprehensive Elections Guide

02.10.2022

By Laura Wenus, Editor

Voters who feel confused or misled by the bombardment of political advertising that comes with every election season might seek out a neutral, straightforward explanation of a ballot measure or campaign. For many voters, that search leads to Ballotpedia. Though the site is exhaustive and may seem formulaic, its content is not automatically generated. Professional writers and editors carefully curate the material that lands in this elections encyclopedia, which covers everything from ballot measures to judges to redistricting.

LGBTQ

In ‘No Straight Lines,’ We Meet Groundbreaking Queer Comic Artists

06.11.2021

By Laura Wenus, Editor

In the new documentary “No Straight Lines,” artists who took serious risks by outing themselves and creating comics about the experiences and lives of LGBT Americans look back on their work and its impacts. Director Vivian Kleiman, a Peabody Award winning filmmaker, producer, director and writer, talked with “Civic” about how these artists shaped the underground comics scene and some of the film’s more poignant moments.

Media

Police form a line around a small group of protesters and one journalist held on the scene in what officers called a “mass arrest” on June 3, 2020.

After Journalist Arrests, State Legislation Aims to Protect Reporter Access to Protests

06.10.2021

By Laura Wenus, Editor

Freedom of information advocates and journalists have criticized a number of instances in which law enforcement officers arrested, detained or even injured reporters at work covering protests in California. In response, state Sen. Mike McGuire authored SB 98, which aims to codify journalists’ right to access demonstrations.

“Civic” Podcast

The First Draft of 50 Years of LGBTQ History

04.12.2021

By Mel Baker

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 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

The Jan. 26 issue of the Wind Newspaper.

Undeterred by Layoff, Journalist Launches Bilingual Newspaper

01.28.2021

By Laura Wenus, Editor

Portia Li had been covering San Francisco’s Chinese community for the World Journal, a large Chinese-language newspaper, since 1986. She was laid off in April. Li told “Civic” that readers who missed her byline encouraged her to start her own newspaper.

Media

Bay Area reporters said during a San Francisco Public Press webinar that they have been stonewalled by municipal governments during the coronavirus emergency health orders.

Journalists Encounter Roadblocks to Government Transparency During Pandemic

01.15.2021

By Laura Wenus, Editor

Journalists have also found it difficult to get answers to questions from various city departments during the pandemic. The San Francisco Public Press hosted a roundtable discussion with local reporters about the difficulties they have experienced in accessing public information.

Media

San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper Becomes a Cooperative

01.11.2021

By Laura Wenus, Editor

The end of 2020 saw several local publications change hands, with real estate and hospitality magnate Clint Reilly acquiring the San Francisco Examiner and SF Weekly and Street Media acquiring the Marina Times. The San Francisco Bay View National Black Newspaper is undergoing its own transition, but rather than simply changing hands it is going to a cooperative ownership model.

Media

In 2020, Youth Media Engaged With Election, Pandemic, Racial Reckoning

12.31.2020

By Laura Wenus, Editor

Newsrooms across the country have been in overdrive most of this year, covering a global pandemic, a primary and a presidential election and protests against systemic racism and police brutality. Contributors with YR Media, a national network of young journalists and artists, many of them people of color, have been covering the events of 2020 with reporting and perspectives that are rarely afforded space and attention in national or corporate outlets.

Media

Clint Reilly, S.F. Examiner’s New Owner, Vows to Expand Paper’s Newsroom, Coverage

12.18.2020

By Laura Wenus, Editor

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.