San Francisco Bay Guardian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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| Type | Alternative weekly |
| Format | Tabloid |
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| Owner | Bruce Brugmann |
| Publisher | Bruce Brugmann |
| Editor | Bruce Brugmann |
| Founded | 1966 |
| Headquarters | 135 Mississippi St. San Francisco, CA 94107  United States |
| Circulation | 149,153[1] |
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| Website: sfbg.com | |
The San Francisco Bay Guardian (also known as the SF Bay Guardian, Bay Guardian, and the Guardian) is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B. Brugmann.
The Bay Guardian, launched in 1966, is known for reporting, celebrating, and promoting left-wing and progressive issues within San Francisco and (albeit rarely) around the San Francisco Bay Area as a whole. This usually includes muckraking, legislation to control and limit gentrification, and endorsement of political candidates and other laws and policies that fall within its political views. It also has comprehensive movie and music reviews, an annual nude beaches issue, and an annual sex issue. The Bay Guardian is one of several alternative newspapers in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, including the SF Weekly (its major competitor), East Bay Express, and Berkeley Daily Planet.
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[edit] Best of the Bay
The Guardian publishes an annual "Best of The Bay" issue that lists the best restaurants, business, and activities in the Bay Area, based on a readers' poll and staff recommendations. Published annually since 1974, the Guardian claims that its "Best Of" issue was the first annual guide of its kind and was copied by other publications.[citation needed]
[edit] Goldie Award
The Guardian gives the "Goldie Award" annually for excellence in the arts and similar areas.
[edit] Anti-unionism in employment
The Guardian put down an attempt by its employees to unionize in the 1970s.[2]
In 1975, Guardian staffers, with the aid of Newspaper Guild Local 52 and International Typographical Union Local 21, signed union cards to seek higher wages and benefits. The paper had previously won a legal settlement and moved to a new building. Nevertheless, publisher Bruce Brugmann claimed there weren't enough funds to increase pay or benefits. The day after Thanksgiving, he fired five senior staffers who had helped organize the union effort.[2]
Newspaper staffers voted to join the Newspaper Guild and, on June 15, 1976, they called a strike to force Brugmann to offer a labor contract. Brugmann retained a few management staff and hired scab replacements. In August, Cesar Chavez offered to mediate the strike, but Brugmann refused. Finally, in 1977, another election was called, but this time votes by replacement workers carried the day and the new staff voted not to join a union.[2]
[edit] Lawsuit against Weekly
In March, 2008 the Guardian won a predatory pricing lawsuit against its local rival, the SF Weekly, based on allegations the Weekly undercut the Guardian by selling display advertisements below cost while supporting itself on cash infusions from its parent, Village Voice Media, in an effort to force the Guardian into bankruptcy. In May, 2008 the judge in the case awarded punitive damages, raising the jury's $6.3 million award to $15.9 million, and issuing an injunction prohibiting the Weekly from selling advertisements below cost.[3]
[edit] References
- ^ San Francisco Bay Guardian. Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
- ^ a b c Wetzel, Tom. "Small Is Not Beautiful: Life at the Bay Guardian", Workers Solidarity Alliance, Fall 1987. Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
- ^ Meredith May. "Judge raises damages in case against SF Weekly", San Francisco Chronicle, May 20, 2008.
