Providing records and information to the public can be time consuming, expensive and legally risky, said award-winning journalist Miranda Spivack at a recent event hosted by the San Francisco Public Press.
Media
After Journalist Arrests, State Legislation Aims to Protect Reporter Access to Protests
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
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
Undeterred by Layoff, Journalist Launches Bilingual Newspaper
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
Journalists Encounter Roadblocks to Government Transparency During Pandemic
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
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
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
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.
