This is some really sad news for San Francisco media. SF Weeklyreported this morning that the San Francisco Bay Guardian is being shut down, after 48 years of raising hell and covering the hell out of the arts scene here. Apparently parent company San Francisco Print Media Company decided the SFBG wasn't profitable enough. SFPMC publisher Glenn Zuehls told the Weekly,"The amount of money that the Bay Guardian loses each week is causing damage to the heart of the company and cannot justify its continued publication." Although SFBG editor Stephen T. Jones said, "We are in discussions of the possibility of buying the paper. We'll turn to our community and try to see if this is possible." A statement on SFBG's website is a very stark and sad confirmation that the paper has ceased publishing.
The Guardian has been the heart of the city's adamantly progressive, radically alternative culture for decades and I'm crushed to hear that it's being let go. Many of us here at The Bold Italic have written for the Guardian at one point or another in our careers (Sarah Han worked on staff there for years) and are among the loyal who pick up the paper weekly to read all the excellent city and arts coverage they offer. I've also been inspired by the way publisher Marke Bieschke worked his way from being my favorite clubs columnist to helping keep the paper rooted in the community after original owner Bruce Brugmann sold it to the SFPMC.
I hope the staff there can keep the paper going – it is the essence of keeping SF weird, and it would be a huge loss to see it go.
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Photo by torbakhopper; via SF Weekly