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.
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.
“Civic” Podcast
No Ads? Newsprint? A Discussion of What Shaped the Public Press
San Francisco Public Press Publisher Lila LaHood talks with board chair David Cohn about the ideas — like going ad free and printing a physical newspaper — that would shape how the Public Press operates. “People who know the Public Press trust it in a very deep way, which, you know, you have to earn that trust.” — David Cohn, Public Press board chair
“Civic” Podcast
But Why a Radio Station? Michael Stoll of the Public Press Explains It All
San Francisco Public Press Executive Director Michael Stoll talks with Jennifer Waits, who hosts the radio show “Radio Survivor,” about why and how the Public Press launched a low-power FM radio station.
“We always thought of ourselves as a newspaper based on a public broadcasting model, and now we’re a public broadcaster based on a newspaper based on public broadcasting. We really feel at home in the spirit of it, but the technical and logistical challenges to get a whole radio station set up were enthralling.” — San Francisco Public Press Executive Director Michael Stoll
“Civic” Podcast
Looking Back on First 10 Years of the San Francisco Public Press
San Francisco Public Press Executive Director Michael Stoll and Publisher Lila LaHood look back on a decade of working in a nonprofit news operation they founded — including the hurdles they had to overcome to establish nonprofit status for the Public Press — and look to the future. “We are hewing much closer to the ideal of public media, which is to be a public trust, first and foremost, and not try to commoditize the news. You can do different kinds of journalism … if you start out from a place of public service.” — Michael Stoll, San Francisco Public Press executive director
“Civic” Podcast
Journalist Reflects on Covering 2015 San Francisco Election
Journalist Sara Bloomberg looks back on her coverage of the 2015 San Francisco election and the millions of dollars poured into the campaign, as well as her reporting on the criminalization of homelessness. “Part of handling data in my reporting is to look for errors … there are mistakes, these data sets are human reported. Humans make errors.” — Journalist Sara Bloomberg
“Civic” Podcast
Veteran Bay Area Traffic Reporter Talks Shop
Mark Pape, a radio reporter for the Total Traffic & Weather Network, tells it like it is about reporting on traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area, the third-worst commute in the country. Interviewed in what traffic reporters call “the pit, ” an area ringed by computer workstations, large TV monitors and microphones, Pape, who has been on the job for 31 years, talks about the days of yesteryear when road information was gathered via airplane as opposed to what happens now, when data is gleaned from computer screens.
“Back when I started, we had planes for a lot of different stations. Matter of fact, there would be a reporter in the front seat and another reporter in the back seat.” — Mark Pape
From the Newsroom
With New FM Radio Station, Public Press Takes the News to the Airwaves
The San Francisco Public Press is launching a city-focused news and talk show on KSFP, a low-power radio station that the organization launched on 102.5-FM in August.
News
Introducing the Audio Team
To help launch our audio division and low-power FM radio station, we are excited to announce two new additions to the Public Press newsroom. The station’s inaugural news and public affairs program, “Civic,” will be produced by Mel Baker and hosted by Laura Wenus, who bring a breadth of multimedia experience and will lead a team reporting on local policies, culture and ideas. “Civic” will debut this month on your favorite podcast app and on KSFP 102.5 FM in San Francisco. Baker has worked as a national network and Bay Area broadcaster for many decades. From early training in National Public Radio’s newscast unit, to stints in the newsrooms of KGO radio and KTVU-TV, and as a news anchor and reporter at KALW and other Bay Area stations, he has embraced the responsibility of broadcast media to “enlighten and inform” the community.