Metro Silicon Valley

Entertainment and investigative journalism

Metro is largely read for its coverage of the San Jose region's culture and entertainment scene. It publishes an exhaustive arts section, which includes calendar listings, music reviews, critical coverage of the performing and visual arts, as well as movie reviews and information. The newspaper employed well-regarded film critic Richard von Busack from 1985 until the pandemic. Steve Palopoli edited the publication from March 2005 until December 2008.

In 1986, Metro published the last interview with Don Hoefler, the man credited with naming Silicon Valley. Metro has scooped the daily press on a number of major stories, including the office romance of San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales in 2000 and the Santa Clara County Grand Jury's plans to indict Gonzales in June 2006.

In 1996, Metro's "Public Eye" column scooped Apple's December 20 announcement of a deal between Steve Jobs' NeXT Inc. and Apple Inc. that led to Jobs' return to Apple.

In 2007, Metro and its sister publication North Bay Bohemian prompted Sen. Dianne Feinstein's resignation from the U.S. Senate's Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee after the two papers published an exposé by Peter Byrne documenting Feinstein's conflicts of interest related to husband Richard C. Blum's ownership interest in two major defense contractors, firms that received billions of dollars in contracts for military construction projects that were approved during Feinstein's tenure on the subcommittee.

In 2012, Metro published a series of articles on Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors chair George Shirakawa, Jr., who had failed to file legally required campaign disclosure statements and had not turned in receipts for 175 taxpayer-underwritten meal charges. The disclosures resulted in an investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office. Shirakawa pleaded guilty on March 1, 2013, to five felonies and seven misdemeanors and resigned his office. Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu Towery credited Metro reports with prompting the criminal investigation at the press conference announcing the plea and resignation. The House Committee on Ethics investigated Rep. Mike Honda following revelations in Metro that contributors were receiving favors from the congressman's office.

Notable alumni

The newspaper has helped launch the careers of several notable writers, including British television journalist Louis Theroux, author Jonathan Vankin, author and educator Gordon Young (Journalist), Vietnamese-American author Andrew Pham, Obama administration education advisor Hal Plotkin, News Director of Vice News Michael Learmonth, and film producer Zack Stentz It also published the early writings of New York Times editorial board member Michelle Goldberg, as well as six-word memoirist Larry Smith and Dave Eggers before they became published authors. It was also one of the first newspapers to publish Matt Groening's Life in Hell long before he created The Simpsons.

Community involvement

In 1986, Metro executive editor Dan Pulcrano co-founded with Ray Rodriguez the San Jose Downtown Association and led the effort to start Music in the Park, a public music festival that was free in its early days and has staged performances by such groups as the Beach Boys, Maroon 5, Billy Preston, Cuco and Tower of Power.

The San Jose Jazz Society was started by Metro jazz writer Sammy Cohen and headquartered in Metro's office. The outgrowth was the annual San Jose Jazz Festival.

During the 1990s, Metro purchased community newspapers from companies such as the Tribune Company and established Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, which it sold in 2001.

Metro was the first to call for a Sunshine Ordinance during the 1998 mayor's race. An ordinance was passed in 2009.

In explaining the newspaper's mission on its 20th anniversary, executive editor Pulcrano said, "We have championed independent businesses and small theaters in an effort to help the valley establish its own cultural identity. We have pushed for preservation of historic buildings and agricultural lands that represent the valley's heritage and soul. And we have promoted sensible, pedestrian-oriented development that gets people out of their cars so they can get to know one another. A newspaper at its best should be a community-builder."

In 2012, Metro sponsored the Silicon Valley Sound Experience, a multi-venue music festival, which led to the establishment of Creative Convergence Silicon Valley, or C2SV, the following year. The 2013 event included performances by Iggy and The Stooges and a three-day technology conference with appearances by Steve Wozniak, Nolan Bushnell and John McAfee. The 2015 C2SV brought camera phone inventor Philippe Kahn to the stage of the California Theatre.

Early online player

Metro was an early participant in the online publishing revolution, launching the Livewire online service in 1993, one of the first online efforts by a non-daily newspaper publisher. The service offered free email accounts, online commerce, chats, posting forums and online articles.

Virtual Valley, a similar service with an emphasis on covering Silicon Valley communities, was launched the following year and helped put the city governments of San Jose, Milpitas and Los Gatos online. Also in 1994, Metro established Boulevards, a network of city guides that pre-dated Citysearch and Microsoft's short-lived "Sidewalk" service.

In 1995, Metro launched the online version of the newspaper under the brand Metroactive.

References

References

1. "Metro Silicon Valley". [[Association of Alternative Newsweeklies]].
2. (29 September 2003). "Metro Silicon Valley Launches PDF Download Edition". AAN.
3. [http://aan.org/gyrobase/Aan/ViewArticle?oid=oid%3A129978 Metro Silicon Valley Launches PDF Download Edition], September 29, 2003, Metro Newspapers.
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5. (September 3, 2015). "Mike Honda Report: 'Substantial Reason to Believe' Congressman Mike Honda, Staff Broke House Rules". San Jose Inside.
6. (November 9, 2016). "Khanna Defeats Eight-Term Incumbent Honda For Congress". Associated Press.
7. (2005-03-09). "Metro's 20th Anniversary". Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper.
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9. [http://www.metroactive.com/papers/metro/09.07.00/public-eye-0036.html Office Romance? No Comment.], ''Metro, Silicon Valley's Weekly Newspaper'', September 7–13, 2000.
10. (December 19, 1996). "Accidental Billionaire". Metro Silicon Valley.
11. Byrne, Peter. (21 March 2007). "Feinstein Resigns—Senator exits MILCON following Metro exposé, vet-care scandal". Metroactive.com.
12. Doyle, Michael. (14 April 2007). "Feinstein under fire over defense ties". San Jose Mercury News.
13. (19 April 2007). "McClatchy picks up DiFi story". San Francisco Peninsula Press Club.
14. (2012-09-26). "King George". San Jose Inside.
15. (2013-03-01). "Supervisor George Shirakawa Resigns". San Jose Inside.
16. French, Lauren. (2015-07-20). "Ethics panel weighs full probe of House Democrat Honda". Politico.
17. Templeton, David. (2003-03-13). "Too Weird: Dreaming of vampires, waking to nanobugs, writer Zack Stentz gets his first big-screen credit in 'Agent Cody Banks'". Metroactive.
18. Richard von Busack, "Groening Pull," ''Metro Silicon Valley'', July 4, 2012.
19. Herhold, Scott. (2011-12-18). "The legacy of a generation of young Turks downtown". [[San Jose Mercury News]].
20. Pulcrano, Dan. (2009-08-30). "Sammy Cohen, Metro columnist and Jazz Society founder". Metro Silicon Valley.
21. Pulcrano, Dan. (2002-06-27). "Reinventing Ron--A Checklist". Metro Silicon Valley.
22. (14 March 2005). "Metro Silicon Valley Turns 20". Association of Alternative Newsmedia.
23. (2013-08-21). "Silicon Valley's answer to SXSW: Iggy Pop, Big Data, self-driving cars". Silicon Valley Business Journal.
24. Swartz, Angela. (October 8, 2015). "Oculus VR co-founder Jack McCauley on VR, AR and his creative new project". Silicon Valley Business Journal.
25. "October 5 to October 11, 1995". Metro Silicon Valley.
26. (1996-11-10). "MetroActive: News, Arts and Entertainment Around the San Francisco Bay Area". Boulevards.