Bruce B. Brugmann
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Bruce B. Brugmann is editor and publisher of the San Francisco Bay Guardian, a weekly alternative newspaper published in San Francisco. He co-founded the newspaper with his wife, Jean Dibble, in 1966.
Brugmann was born in Rock Rapids, Iowa. He earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska, where he was editor of the college newspaper, and a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. Brugmann spent two years in the Army as an infantryman and journalist, including a stint in South Korea, where he worked at the Stars and Stripes as a bureau chief. Brugmann spent a year working at the Lincoln Star, three years at the Milwaukee Journal, and three years at the now-defunct Redwood City Tribune.
"The grandiose goose" has a mixed reputation in journalism circles. He is known as a passionate advocate for public access to public records. He won a Beacon Award from the California First Amendment Coalition. The Northern California Chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists gave him a Career Achievement Award. He served as a board member on the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, which enforces San Francisco's public records rules.
But Brugmann is also known for his anti-union activities. In 1975 and 1976, he fired San Francisco Bay Guardian workers who voted to join the Newspaper Guild Local 52 and International Typographical Union Local 21. To break the two-year strike, he hired replacement workers. Brugmann has a reputation for embracing conspiracy theories. For example, he blamed a competitor, the SF Weekly, when his newspaper didn't win any awards in a local journalism competition. The publisher is obsessed with a handful of topics related to public power, PG&E (the gas and electric utility), and the Hetch Hetchy dam. He frequently signs letters and editorials with a series of post scripts (e.g. PS, PPS, PPS...etc.). And he frequently spams other journalists in the Bay Area with raving screeds concerning his favorite topics.
