SF Weekly

History

SF Weekly was founded locally in the late 1970s by Christopher Hildreth and Edward Bachman and originally named San Francisco Music Calendar, the Magazine or Poster Art. Hildreth saw a need for local artists to have a place to advertise performances and articles. The key feature was the centerfold calendar listings for local art events. The paper was bought by Village Voice Media (then New Times Media) in 1995.

In September 2012, Village Voice Media executives Scott Tobias, Christine Brennan and Jeff Mars bought Village Voice Media's papers and associated web properties from its founders and formed Voice Media Group. Four months later, SF Weekly was sold to the San Francisco Media Company, owners of The San Francisco Examiner and the Weeklys long-time rival San Francisco Bay Guardian. The publishers then had control of three of the four major English-language newspapers in San Francisco.

In 2014, San Francisco Media Co. became fully owned by Black Press. The Bay Guardian was closed in 2014, leaving the Weekly as the only print alternative weekly in San Francisco.

In December 2020, Clint Reilly Communications bought SF Weekly together with the Examiner. In September 2021 it announced that, at the end of that month it would cease publication "for the foreseeable future". It had been adversely affected by the loss of classified ads after the rise of Craigslist.

Sections

• SF Weekly also publishes ******, a cannabis publication, both online and in print.
• News: includes local, regional and sometimes statewide short and longform, in-depth news stories.
• Arts and Entertainment: includes a weekly calendar, city events listings, a music section with a weekly music column, several music features, show reviews. The section also includes a food column, film reviews, theater reviews, as well as Dan Savage's syndicated sex advice column Savage Love and Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology.

SF Weekly Music Awards

The annual SF Weekly Music Awards were based on a popular vote for nominees and were announced in October at the Warfield Theatre.

Controversies

Ethics

SF Weekly was the subject of ethical controversy in January 2006, when a column about the AVN Awards misidentified the event's location and honorees. The paper's editor had apparently altered a column about a different event from years before.

In July 2015, after Matt Saincome wrote Counting Cards at Graton Casino, the casino notified SF Weekly of its intention to pull tens of thousands of dollars in ad buys; the publisher of SF Weekly, Glenn Zuehls, reportedly demanded that SF Weekly staff remedy the advertiser with a favorable cover story, by directly assigning the story to a reporter.

''Bay Guardian Company, Inc. v SF Weekly, et al.''

The San Francisco Bay Guardian, another free alternative weekly newspaper in the San Francisco Bay Area, sued SF Weekly in civil court, alleging that it tried to put the Bay Guardian out of business by selling ads below cost. The Guardian won the suit in March, 2008, and was granted $6.2 million in damages, a figure that swelled to $21 million with antitrust penalties and interest by June 2010. After the verdict, the Guardian obtained court orders allowing it to seize and sell the Weeklys two delivery trucks and collect half of the Weeklys ad revenue.

Headquarters

The offices of SF Weekly are on Market Street. Suite 3800 of 185 Berry Street (China Basin Landing), and 425 Brannan Street.

Awards

;Long Island University George Polk Awards

• 2002: Environmental Reporting: Lisa Davis for "Fallout", coverage of mishandling of nuclear waste at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard

;National Society of Newspaper Columnists

• 2009: Humor: 1st Place: Katy St. Clair, Bouncer

References

References

1. (November 1998). "Consider the Alternative". [[American Journalism Review]].
2. Siklos, Richard. (October 24, 2005). "The Village Voice, Pushing 50, Prepares to Be Sold to a Chain of Weeklies". [[The New York Times]].
3. (September 24, 2012). "Village Voice Media Execs Acquire The Company's Famed Alt Weeklies, Form New Holding Company".
4. (9 January 2013). "SF Weekly purchased by parent company of San Francisco Examiner". [[The San Francisco Examiner]].
5. Ross, Andrew S.. (January 9, 2013). "SF Weekly, Bay Guardian have same owner". [[San Francisco Chronicle]].
6. Eskenazi, Joe. (2014-05-06). "The Snitch: Todd Vogt, San Francisco Print Media Company President, Likely to Sell SF Weekly, Bay Guardian, Examiner". SF Weekly.
7. Dudnick, Laura. (2014-07-02). "New publisher named for San Francisco Media Co.". The San Francisco Examiner.
8. Eskenazi, Joe. (October 14, 2014). "The Snitch: ''San Francisco Bay Guardian'' Closed by San Francisco Media Company". SF Weekly.
9. Kost, Ryan. (September 10, 2021). "SF Weekly to cease publication 'for the foreseeable future". San Francisco Chronicle.
10. (30 September 2021). "Alternative Facts: SF Weekly Turns 40, Takes a Break". SF Weekly.
11. (15 September 2021). "A farewell to SF Weekly".
12. (September 14, 2009). "Voting commences for '09 SF Weekly Music Awards".
13. Said, Carolyn. (June 29, 2005). "Business: Bill Graham deal irks Guardian / Promoter shifts its concert ads to SF Weekly". San Francisco Chronicle.
14. "Music Awards".
15. Woodward, Tali. (13 July 2006). "Porn story Puzzle: Behind the Infiltrator Mess at ''SF Weekly''". San Francisco Bay Guardian.
16. Jackson. (January 18, 2006). "Did the SF Weekly Scapegoat Harmon Leon". SFist.
17. (July 29, 2015). "Counting Cards at Graton Casino". SF Weekly.
18. (August 5, 2015). "SF Weekly publisher backs off plan to use cover story to 'make up' with advertiser". [[Columbia Journalism Review]].
19. Egelko, Bob. (June 14, 2010). "SF Weekly wants Guardian's damage award tossed". The San Francisco Chronicle.
20. "Contact Us".
21. Previous locations have included: [[225 Bush Street]], 55 Francisco Street,"[http://www.sfweekly.com/about/index/ Contact Us]". ''SF Weekly''. Retrieved on March 3, 2012. "Address: 55 Francisco St. Suite 710, San Francisco, CA 94133"
22. "Past George Polk Award Winners: 2001". Long Island University.