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{{short description|American free alternative weekly newspaper}}{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}

factoids

}}SF Weekly is an online music publication and formerly alternative weekly newspaper founded in the 1970s in San Francisco, California. It was distributed every Thursday, and was published by the San Francisco Print Media Company. The paper has won national journalism awards, and sponsored the SF Weekly Music Awards.

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.JOURNAL, Vane, Sharyn, November 1998, Consider the Alternative, American Journalism Review,www.ajr.org/article.asp?id=912, October 18, 2012, NEWS, The Village Voice, Pushing 50, Prepares to Be Sold to a Chain of Weeklies, Richard, Siklos,www.nytimes.com/2005/10/24/business/24voice.html, The New York Times, October 24, 2005, October 18, 2012, 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.WEB, Village Voice Media Execs Acquire The Company’s Famed Alt Weeklies, Form New Holding Company,techcrunch.com/2012/09/23/voice-media-group-acquisition/, Tech Crunch, 27 September 2012, Four months later, SF Weekly was sold to the San Francisco Media Company, owners of The San Francisco Examiner and the Weekly{{’}}s long-time rival San Francisco Bay Guardian.NEWS, SF Weekly purchased by parent company of San Francisco Examiner,www.sfexaminer.com/news/business/2013/01/sf-weekly-purchased-parent-company-san-francisco-examiner, The San Francisco Examiner, 9 January 2013, 2013-01-11, dead,www.sfexaminer.com/news/business/2013/01/sf-weekly-purchased-parent-company-san-francisco-examiner," title="web.archive.org/web/20130113052123www.sfexaminer.com/news/business/2013/01/sf-weekly-purchased-parent-company-san-francisco-examiner,">web.archive.org/web/20130113052123www.sfexaminer.com/news/business/2013/01/sf-weekly-purchased-parent-company-san-francisco-examiner, 13 January 2013, The publishers then had control of three of the four major English-language newspapers in San Francisco.NEWS, Andrew S., Ross, SF Weekly, Bay Guardian have same owner,www.sfgate.com/business/bottomline/article/SF-Weekly-Bay-Guardian-have-same-owner-4181374.php, San Francisco Chronicle, January 9, 2013, 2013-01-11, In 2014, San Francisco Media Co. became fully owned by Black Press.NEWS, Eskenazi, Joe, The Snitch: Todd Vogt, San Francisco Print Media Company President, Likely to Sell SF Weekly, Bay Guardian, Examiner, SF Weekly, 2014-10-15, 2014-05-06,www.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2014/05/06/todd-vogt-san-francisco-print-media-company-president-likely-to-sell-sf-weekly-bay-guardian-examiner, NEWS, Dudnick, Laura, New publisher named for San Francisco Media Co., The San Francisco Examiner, 2014-10-15, 2014-07-02,www.sfexaminer.com/sanfrancisco/new-publisher-named-for-san-francisco-media-co/Content?oid=2840126, The Bay Guardian was closed in 2014,NEWS, Joe, Eskenazi,archives.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2014/10/14/san-francisco-bay-guardian-closed-by-san-francisco-media-company, The Snitch: San Francisco Bay Guardian Closed by San Francisco Media Company, SF Weekly, October 14, 2014, September 11, 2021, 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”.NEWS, Ryan, Kost,www.sfchronicle.com/sf/article/SF-Weekly-to-cease-publication-for-the-16450269.php, SF Weekly to cease publication ‘for the foreseeable future, San Francisco Chronicle, September 10, 2021, September 11, 2021, It had been adversely affected by the loss of classified ads after the rise of Craigslist.NEWS, Veronin, Nick, Alternative Facts: SF Weekly Turns 40, Takes a Break,www.sfweekly.com/culture/alternative-facts-sf-weekly-turns-40-takes-a-break/, 3 February 2022, SF Weekly, 30 September 2021, Classified ads were the “meat and potatoes” of SF Weekly’s finances, Byrne explains, so when Craigslist became popular, that was a death knell for the previous financial model that newspapers around the country relied on. In 1998, when Byrne first started working at SF Weekly, their issues were thick with classified ads., WEB, Kane, Peter-Astrid, A farewell to SF Weekly,48hills.org/2021/09/a-farewell-to-sf-weekly/, 48 hills, 3 February 2022, 15 September 2021, When I was hired as SF Weekly’s arts editor in March 2015, pretty much the entire staff had departed over a six-week period, beginning with the surprise termination of editor Brandon Reynolds.,

Sections

• SF Weekly also publishes {{vanchor|SF Evergreen}}, 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 nomineesNEWS,thebaybridged.com/2009/09/14/voting-commences-for-09-sf-weekly-music-awards/, Voting commences for ‘09 SF Weekly Music Awards, The Bay Bridged, September 14, 2009, September 11, 2021, and were announced in October at the Warfield Theatre.NEWS, Carolyn, Said,www.sfchronicle.com/business/article/Bill-Graham-deal-irks-Guardian-Promoter-shifts-2659254.php, Business: Bill Graham deal irks Guardian / Promoter shifts its concert ads to SF Weekly, San Francisco Chronicle, June 29, 2005, September 11, 2021, WEB,www.sfweekly.com/musicawards/, Music Awards, SF Weekly,web.archive.org/web/20070831030515/https://www.sfweekly.com/musicawards/, 2007-08-31,

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.NEWS, Tali, Woodward, Porn story Puzzle: Behind the Infiltrator Mess at SF Weekly,www.sfbg.com/40/17/news_porn.html, San Francisco Bay Guardian, 13 July 2006, 2010-01-08, NEWS, Jackson, Did the SF Weekly Scapegoat Harmon Leon,sfist.com/2006/01/18/did_the_sf_weekly_scapegoat_harmon_leon.php, SFist, January 18, 2006, 2010-01-08, dead,sfist.com/2006/01/18/did_the_sf_weekly_scapegoat_harmon_leon.php," title="web.archive.org/web/20100206093723sfist.com/2006/01/18/did_the_sf_weekly_scapegoat_harmon_leon.php,">web.archive.org/web/20100206093723sfist.com/2006/01/18/did_the_sf_weekly_scapegoat_harmon_leon.php, February 6, 2010, In July 2015, after Matt Saincome wrote Counting Cards at Graton Casino,NEWS, Saincome, Matt, Counting Cards at Graton Casino,www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/blackjack-counting-cards-graton-graton-casino-21-rain-man-bus-trip/Content?oid=3876346, 3 February 2022, SF Weekly, July 29, 2015,web.archive.org/web/20150802023718/https://www.sfweekly.com/sanfrancisco/blackjack-counting-cards-graton-graton-casino-21-rain-man-bus-trip/Content?oid=3876346, August 2, 2015, en, 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.JOURNAL, Hutchins, Corey, SF Weekly publisher backs off plan to use cover story to ‘make up’ with advertiser, Columbia Journalism Review, August 5, 2015,www.cjr.org/united_states_project/sf_weekly_publisher_cover_story_advertiser.php, 3 February 2022, en, Bay Guardian Company, Inc. v SF Weekly, et al.“>

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 Weekly{{’}}s two delivery trucks and collect half of the Weekly{{’}}s ad revenue.WEB, Bob, Egelko, SF Weekly wants Guardian’s damage award tossed,www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/06/12/BASU1DU15B.DTL, The San Francisco Chronicle, June 14, 2010, 2010-06-10,

Headquarters

The offices of SF Weekly are on Market Street.WEB,www.sfweekly.com/contact-us/, Contact Us, SF Weekly, September 11, 2021, Previous locations have included: 225 Bush Street, 55 Francisco Street,“Contact Us”. SF Weekly. Retrieved on March 3, 2012. “Address: 55 Francisco St. Suite 710, San Francisco, CA 94133” Suite 3800 of 185 Berry Street (China Basin Landing), and 425 Brannan Street.

Awards

California News Publishers AssociationCalifornia News Publishers Association

• 2018: Digital writing, 1st place: “The Biggest Loss in Paradise: Its Elders” by Nuala Sawyer

Association of Alternative Newsweeklies

• 2002: Investigative Reporting: (Above 54,000) 1st Place: “Fallout” by Lisa Davis and John Mecklin, SF Weekly
• 2004: Investigative Reporting: (Above 50,000) 1st Place (tie): “Death, Maiming, Money, and Muni” by Peter Byrne
• 2004: News Story: (Above 50,000) 1st Place: Lisa Davis
• 2008: Cover Design: (Above 50,000) 1st Place: Darrick Rainey, “Wheelchairs of Fortune” July 25, 2007; “Just Say No” May 23, 2007, “Future Games” April 27, 2007
• 2009: News Story: (Above 50,000) 1st Place: “Snitch” by Ashley Harrell

Long Island University George Polk AwardsWEB,www.liu.edu/polk-awards/past-winners#2001, Past George Polk Award Winners: 2001, The George Polk Awards, Long Island University, September 11, 2021,

• 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

See also

References

{{Reflist|33em}}

External links

• SF Weekly official website
• The Snitch, official daily news blog
• All Shook Down, official daily music and art blog
• SF Foodie, official food and restaurants blog
• Bruce Brugmann Library, official library of articles and court documents regarding Bruce Brugmann and the ongoing legal dispute between SF Weekly and the San Francisco Bay Guardian

{{San Francisco Newspaper Company}}