Chronicle Vows To "Smash" "Naive" New Media Organizations

Did the Chronicle's Metro Editor really say that she found today's paper to be "suburb"? Is this just a typo, or a Freudian slip?

Is the Chronicle really going to send reporters to Sacramento? If they actually do that, I'd be shocked. Over the last few years, they've done little more than regurgitate press releases. Some state-level reporting would be a welcome addition to our local, "suburb" paper.

well darnit now I don''t know what to think. If you and Violet are writing about this and making some good points, maybe my "I don't trust Hellman" stuff , while valid, isn't the whole bag of crack here. Darn nuanced thinking and reasoning!

But while little miss huff and puff at the Chron can get her white whine on, let's be real: the Chronicle dismantled its investigative unit, spent years dismembering its Sacramento staff, lost all its experienced people, and has functioned as a mouthpiece for Governor Newsom. They even cut pages, cut features and even did the sneaky high schooler trick of bumping up type sizes to make their paper look fuller. And they charge more. Fuck them.

This is rapidly becoming a "Geraldo Vs. The Skinheads" fight between Warren Hellman and the Chronicle. The SF Appeal can be the James Dean that comes back from the grave and kicks both their asses.

It's a joke for the Chronicle to believe that it can corner the market on local news, with a decimated staff of demoralized journalists looking for work. The rise of local micro-media is here to stay, and the Chronicle cannot do a thing about it (hence the memo, akin to a woolly mammoth outside on a sunny day).

Once upon a time, a smart man said "never get in a pissing match with a guy who buys his ink by the barrel." No one needs ink anymore, and no one needs the Chron. The SFAppeal, the SFist and others can punch above their weight, freed from the "hard" costs of a physical plant, union legacy contracts, and the costs of paper and distribution.

The fact is, when veteran enterprise reporters like Susan Sward are shown the door, and the Washington "bureau" is a CNN feed, the Chron is only repeating news that's developed by others. The re-design of the Chronicle apparently is meant to distract you from the lack of substance within its pages. The Chronicle exists because: (1) Macy's needs a place to advertise for the 7 people left in the area who don't use computers; and (2) dismantling the Chron would cost Hearst more than running it on life support for a while longer. It's sad, but it's inevitable.

The Chronicle and the whole Hearst Empire is moribund and there aint a damn thing they can do about it. Even with the resources that they have, they can not match the ability of independent journalists with a mission to deliver the story in almost real-time via electronic media. If they can marshall their forces to have a voice in this town beyond "The (boring) Gate", welcome to the party, pal. I haven't personally read the Chron in print in years. It's just not that good a paper!

superb = suburb? Hilarious.

@Greg: the Chron is making up for being a mouthpiece for Newsom by giving him some serious hate right now. Bronstein was checking his garbage bins to see if he separated compost from recyclable! I almost feel sad for Gavin they are so ridiculous in their attacks.

Sad to see Yi leave, he was relatively honest in his reporting. But all the better ones jump ship.

Well, the Chron has one saving grace: they don't litter my driveway with useless paper after being told not to. Otherwise, as much as I dislike their right-wing bent, the Examiner seems to do a better job at local coverage.

I agree that professional journalism is fantastically important. Print media isn't the only way to accomplish this, agreed. However, there are some fundamental advantages to the print model. The restrictions placed on print ads (e.g. it's static content, low/no security risks, etc) make them far easier for the reader to digest. Online ads have no such restrictions, and are much harder to monetize... which I suspect is one of the driving forces behind making online ads so intrusive.

So far, nearly every news web site (including SF Appeal) has failed miserably at making the whole web site experience as enticing (or bearable) in this resepect. Want to copy a blurb from one of the Chron's typo ridden articles (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2009/09/28/financial/f185114D17.DTL)? They spam whatever you copy to the clipboard. The ads are simply overwhelming in number. Even SF Appeal uses Flash ads which manage to raise my hackles a bit (mainly because of the myriad of problems with Flash, but also because they're often ANIMATED... ugh). Salon does the popups encouraging you to subscribe to the Economist. I can't think of the last time that a newspaper prevented me from reading itself before I read through the ads.

Sure, I could use ad blocking software. In fact, I do, but that's not very profitable and thus not conducive to professional journalism is it? Instead of being so advertiser focused, perhaps it would be worth making SF Appeal (and/or any other indie news outlet) more reader oriented. Right below this text input box, I'm staring at an ad that says "PROMOTE YOUR BUSINESS WITH THE APPEAL. ADVERTISE HERE! AFFORDABLE RATES STARTING AT ONLY $30 A MONTH". But for the life of me, I don't see any obvious "hey I like your content and would like to pay for a distraction free way in which to access it" type links.

I, for one, would jump at the chance for a paid, ad-free (or at least guilt free when using ad blocking software) subscription to a decent local news source. I can't think of any independent local news source that offers subscriptions. I'd pay for a Chron subscription if the content weren't so lousy. I'd pay for an SF Appeal subscription if such an option existed.

P.S. NPR is a good contrast. One tiny, static ad on the front page, along with a distinctively colored but otherwise subtle "DONATE" link. Only one ad on the article I'm looking at (okay, it's Flash, and that sucks). And, of course, quality articles.

Cooper echoes what Carl Hall (guild rep) said on St. Patrick's Day 2009 at the Save The Chron event. "Journalism should fight for itself." Hall and Cooper are obviously threatened that an "experimental future" can overtake Chron dominance. http://tinyurl.com/byechron

Lost in the controversy is the absolutely smashing illustration for this post. Congrats, Tim!

Thank you, sir. Don't know what I love more. The fact that you liked it or the fact that you called it smashing.

I feel like the memo was an internal one, meant to inspire the staffers. Perhaps it does not sound so great when read by non-staffers. Having said that, I have given up with SF Gate. Their front page looks like Magoo's closet. Even when I know the news story I'm look for, I can hardly find it. Then when I do find it, there are a lot of words but no pictures. And the comments have turned into warring dialogues by different factions.

I like SF Appeal because the news is easy to find and relevant to me. Okay, I know that sounds self centered, but it is MY time. I love Spotswood. My only complaint is I can't seem to find her videos. The search text box is not working. Please remark if you know what I am doing wrong. I use a Safari browser. I like the minute by minute reporting AND the pictures. Thank you for the pictures. I love the visuals. I also like the curse words. Yep. Call me weird but I want to hear - shit, crap, and fuck when it is relevant. I even have gone to some of your banner ads which I NEVER did on SF Gate. How can you not click on something that says "Sex Pigeon?"

I think SF Gate will be their own demise because they simply don't get it. The online that is. And yes, the newspaper is a dead business. Like the horse and buggy.

i have never read such an honest in your face tell like it is report like this, it is refreshing. i am not suprised to learn that this ready for the grave rag is getting so mad at you folks, for tooo many years the sf cron and the oakland trib has dominated the newspaper market in our area. thier reporters has turned into an extention of the goverment and would not support the poor or fight injustice. i am happy i found you and i look forward to reading the next report. by the way i have been attacked by the sf cron and the oak trib in the past and i await thier fall and the rise of fair open minded news outlets.

The Chronicle has always had a much higher opinion of itself than reality would dictate. Superb? Truly, suburb is more like it! Hilarous memo.

Hey Raqcoon:
Read a little before you mouth off. Carl Hall helped plan The News Project.

i would love to recomend this book about Oakland politics and crime, the book: Politics Crime Money and Lies, Can President Obama clean up the dirty side of American politics. i know the title and sub title is long but its worth it. its about 350 pages. i talked to a sf chron reporter about the claims in the book and asked him to investigate. after about a month i called him back and was told that he had not asked one politician to answer the questions raised in the book. this was shocking to me because this book claims that high level oakland officials set up the taxpayers for a 2 million dollar scam, with that kind of claim you atleast ask the questions and get a yes or a no as to the truth of the matter. Mr. Chip Johnson even went as far as to demand that the author provide 10000000% proof before he even called one councilman. HOW LAZY, is there any wonder that the sf Chron is going down hill. you can get the book at all major book outlets stores. the other possiability is that he is not an investigator and do not know how to ask questions. or he's in the the pocket of those accused in the book.