{{short description|Former American newspaper}} {{Use mdy dates|date=November 2014}}
{{Redirect|Goldie Award|the literary awards|Goldie Awards}}{{Infobox newspaper | name = San Francisco Bay Guardian | image = 240px|border | caption = | type = Alternative weekly | format = Tabloid | founded = 1966 | ceased_publication = October 14, 2014 | price = Free | owners = San Francisco Newspaper Company LLC | publisher = Marke Bieschke | editor = Steven T. Jones | language = English | circulation = 106,708<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aan.org/alternative/Aan/ViewCompany?oid=oid%3A81 |title=San Francisco Bay Guardian |year=2008 |publisher=Association of Alternative Newsweeklies |access-date=2010-01-08 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060618175324/http://aan.org/alternative/Aan/ViewCompany?oid=oid%3A81 |archive-date=June 18, 2006 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> | headquarters = 135 Mississippi St.<br />San Francisco, California 94107 | ISSN = 0036-4096 | website = {{URL|sfbg.com}} }}
The '''''San Francisco Bay Guardian''''' was a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper was shut down on October 14, 2014.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bulwa |first=Demian |author2=John Wildermuth |date=October 14, 2014 |title=San Francisco Bay Guardian shuts down |url=http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/San-Francisco-Bay-Guardian-shuts-down-5822025.php |access-date=October 14, 2014 |newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle}}</ref> Parts of the paper were relaunched online in February 2016.
== History == The ''Bay Guardian'' was founded in 1966 by Bruce B. Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble.<ref name="scrappy">{{cite news |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-84033964.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104103108/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-84033964.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=November 4, 2012 |title=Scrappy SF paper marks 30 years of hip |date=December 1, 1996 |newspaper=Los Angeles Daily News |access-date=2010-08-01}}</ref> It was 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 included muckraking, legislation to control and limit gentrification, and endorsement of political candidates and other laws and policies that fall within its political views. The ''Bay Guardian'' handed out "Goldie Awards" annually for excellence in the arts and similar areas.
It also printed movie and music reviews, an annual nude beaches issue, and an annual sex issue. The ''Bay Guardian'' was one of several alternative newspapers in the greater San Francisco Bay Area, including ''SF Weekly'' (formerly its major competitor, now under the same ownership), ''East Bay Express'', ''Metro Silicon Valley'', ''North Bay Bohemian'', Marin's ''Pacific Sun'', and ''Berkeley Daily Planet''.
In 1971, it published ''The Ultimate Highrise'', on the costs of development to the city. In 1975, it published ''San Francisco Free & Easy: The Native's Guidebook'' with a revised edition in 1980, edited by William Ristow.
=== 1970s unionization attempt === The ''Bay Guardian'' put down an attempt by its employees to unionize in the 1970s. In 1975, ''Bay 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 were not enough funds to increase pay or benefits. The day after Thanksgiving, he fired five senior staffers who had helped organize the union effort. 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 strikebreaker replacements. In August, César Chávez 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.<ref>{{cite web |author=Tom Wetzel |year=1987 |title=Small Is Not Beautiful: Life at the Bay Guardian |url=https://www.foundsf.org/index.php?title=Small_Is_Not_Beautiful:_Life_at_the_Bay_Guardian |work=FoundSF}}</ref>
=== Best of the Bay === Starting in 1974, the ''Bay Guardian'' published an annual "Best of The Bay" issue that listed the best restaurants, business, and activities in the Bay Area, based on a readers' poll and staff recommendations. The ''Bay Guardian'' claimed that its "Best Of" issue was the first annual guide of its kind and was copied by other publications.{{Citation needed|date=January 2016}}
=== Lawsuit against ''SF Weekly'' === In March 2008, the ''Bay Guardian'' won a predatory pricing lawsuit against its local rival, ''SF Weekly'', based on allegations that ''SF Weekly'' undercut the ''Bay 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 ''Bay 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 ''SF Weekly'' from selling advertisements below cost.<ref>{{cite news |author=Meredith May |title=Judge raises damages in case against SF Weekly |url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Judge-raises-damages-in-case-against-SF-Weekly-3283065.php |work=San Francisco Chronicle |date=May 20, 2008 |access-date=2010-01-08}}</ref>
=== Sale === On April 19, 2012, the ''East Bay Express'' reported that the Canadian owners of ''The San Francisco Examiner'' were in negotiations with the ''Bay Guardian'' to buy the newspaper. These rumors were initially denied by its executive editor Tim Redmond,<ref>{{cite news |title=The San Francisco Examiner Closes in on Purchase of San Francisco Bay Guardian |url=http://www.eastbayexpress.com/92510/archives/2012/04/19/breaking-san-francisco-examiner-just-bought-the-san-francisco-bay-guardian |work=East Bay Express |date=April 19, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423163239/http://www.eastbayexpress.com/92510/archives/2012/04/19/breaking-san-francisco-examiner-just-bought-the-san-francisco-bay-guardian |archive-date=April 23, 2012 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=SF Bay Guardian editor: 'We have not been sold' |url=http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2012/04/20/sf-bay-guardian-editor-we-have-not-been-sold/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421053808/http://blog.sfgate.com/nov05election/2012/04/20/sf-bay-guardian-editor-we-have-not-been-sold/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=April 21, 2012 |publisher=SFGate |date=April 20, 2012}}</ref> but the sale went through a week later.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Bruce-Brugmann-sells-Bay-Guardian-to-S-F-Examiner-3510984.php|newspaper=San Francisco Chronicle|date=April 26, 2012|first=Andrew S.|last=Ross|title=Bruce Brugmann sells Bay Guardian to S.F. Examiner}}</ref>
On January 15, 2013, their longstanding rival ''SF Weekly'' was sold to the San Francisco Newspaper Group, which publishes the ''Bay Guardian''.<ref>{{cite web |title=OICE Media Group Today Announces Sale of SF Weekly to San Francisco Newspaper Company |url=http://www.voicemediagroup.com/releases/2013-01-09a.html |publisher=Voice Media Group |date=January 15, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130112024626/http://www.voicemediagroup.com/releases/2013-01-09a.html |archive-date=January 12, 2013 |df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=SF Weekly sold to Bay Guardian publisher |url=http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2013/01/09/sf-weekly-sold-to-bay-guardian-publisher/?plckItemsPerPage=10&plckSort=ThumbsDescending |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150624044457/http://blog.sfgate.com/stew/2013/01/09/sf-weekly-sold-to-bay-guardian-publisher/?plckItemsPerPage=10&plckSort=ThumbsDescending |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 24, 2015 |publisher=SFGate |date=January 15, 2013}}</ref>
=== Shutdown and aftermath === In mid-June 2013, ''San Francisco Business Times'' and other publications reported that Tim Redmond had "been ousted" as publisher and editor. The ''Bay Guardian'' issued a statement quoting new publisher Stephen Buel as saying, "The ''Guardian'' has been losing money, and we were forced to contemplate some editorial layoffs. Tim decided to resign rather than follow through with what we were discussing." However, Redmond denied resigning.<ref> {{cite news | title = Longtime editor Tim Redmond ousted at SF Bay Guardian | url = http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/news/2013/06/14/report-tim-redmond-out-as-sf-bay.html | author = Steven E. F. Brown | date = June 14, 2013 | newspaper = San Francisco Business Times }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1= Jones |first1= Steven T. |last2=Bowe |first2= Rebecca |date=June 18, 2013 |title= On Guard: The story behind the Bay Guardian's new ownership and the departure of Editor-Publisher Tim Redmond |url= http://www.sfbg.com/politics/2013/06/18/guard-story-behind-bay-guardian%E2%80%99s-new-ownership-and-departure-editor-publisher-t|newspaper= San Francisco Bay Guardian}}</ref>
On October 14, 2014, publisher Glenn Zuehls announced that the San Francisco Media Co., which also owns ''SF Weekly'', had decided to close the publication. The 40th annual Best of the Bay issue, published on the same day, was the weekly publication's final issue.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2014/10/14/san-francisco-bay-guardian-closed-by-san-francisco-media-company |date=October 15, 2014 |title=San Francisco Bay Guardian Closed by San Francisco Media Company |newspaper=SF Weekly}}</ref>
Following the ''Bay Guardian''{{'}}s closure, its laid-off staff launched the ''Bay Guardian''-in-Exile Project, which included a fundraising campaign on Indiegogo that raised more than $25,000 to help preserve the paper's archives and produce a final commemorative edition of the ''Bay Guardian'', which was released on Jan. 22, 2015 and distributed in conjunction with the San Francisco Public Press and Gum Road.<ref>{{cite news |author=Jon Brooks |date=January 19, 2015 |title=Miss the San Francisco Bay Guardian? It's Back for One Last Edition |publisher=KQED news |url=http://ww2.kqed.org/news/2015/01/19/miss-the-san-francisco-bay-guardian-its-back-for-one-last-edition}}</ref>
In October 2015, the Bay Guardian's print and digital archives were handed over to the San Francisco Center for Newspaper Preservation, a newly founded nonprofit organization led by Marke Bieschke (the paper's former publisher) and Tim Redmond.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Former SF Bay Guardian Publisher Marke Bieschke Talks Fundraising, Progressive Media, And Bringing Back The 'Best Of The Bay'|url=http://sfist.com/2015/12/01/former_sf_bay_guardian_publisher_ma.php |publisher=SFist |access-date=2016-01-31 |first=Jay |last=Barmann |date=2015-12-01 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160131063338/http://sfist.com/2015/12/01/former_sf_bay_guardian_publisher_ma.php |archive-date=January 31, 2016 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> In January 2016, they announced that a "Bring Back the Bay Guardian" crowdfunding campaign and other donations had yielded enough funds to secure the archives and relaunch several ''Bay Guardian'' features, included "Best of the Bay".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Bay Guardian announces fundraising success |url=http://www.48hills.org/2016/01/22/bay-guardian-announces-fundraising-success/ |publisher=48 hills |access-date=2016-01-31 |author=Marke B |date=2016-01-22}}</ref>
With Bieschke, Redmond now publishes ''48 Hills'', a separate site focusing on San Francisco politics that Redmond founded in 2014 after leaving the ''Bay Guardian''.<ref name=":0" />
== See also == {{Portal bar|San Francisco Bay Area}}
==References== <references/>
==External links== * [http://www.sfbg.com Official website]
Category:1966 establishments in California Category:Alternative weekly newspapers published in the United States Category:Newspapers published in the San Francisco Bay Area Category:Newspapers established in 1966 Category:2014 disestablishments in California Category:Newspapers disestablished in 2014 Category:2014 in San Francisco Category:Online newspapers with defunct print editions Category:1966 in San Francisco Category:Weekly newspapers published in California Category:Defunct weekly newspapers