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65-698: The San Francisco Independent was the largest non-daily newspaper in the United States. It helped to popularize the free newspaper (advertising supported) as a business model at the beginning of the 21st century, and also rescued one of the city's two major daily newspaper, the afternoon / evening San Francisco Examiner (founded 1863, and purchased 1880 by U.S. Senator George Hearst , then passed on in 1887 to son and later longtime famous national newspaper syndicate titan William Randolph Hearst , senior, 1863–1951, and flagship since 1880 of his subsequent national newspaper publishing syndicate). The efforts of

130-623: A tabloid format into a standard broadsheet sized page preferred by more major newspapers and extending its circulation / distribution zone citywide in the following year of 1988. Six years later in 1993, Fang purchased a chain of weeklies in suburban San Mateo County owned by the Chicago Tribune and its longtime owner, national media syndicate, the Tribune Company . By 1998 all of the San Francisco Bay area with

195-595: A major American city, and also at the state and national level. Ted's father John Fang was a newspaper pioneer in his own right, serving as Editor and Publisher of the Young China Daily News which was started by modern China's founding father Sun Yat Sen. In 1979, John also started AsianWeek, the national English language newspaper known as the "Voice for Asian America." The Fangs and The Independent were proponents of diversity in their own businesses and in society at large. They supported Willie Brown as

260-641: A merging of resources between the two papers. For 35 years, starting in 1965, the San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner operated under a joint operating agreement whereby the Chronicle published a morning paper and the Examiner published in the afternoon. The Examiner published the Sunday paper's news sections and glossy magazine, and the Chronicle contributed the features. Circulation

325-623: A more aggressive approach to growth and that summer launched a challenge to the largest and oldest community paper , the San Francisco Progress, by submitting a bid to publish the public notices for the city and becoming the Official Newspaper of San Francisco. Although the Independent was ultimately not successful in securing that advertising contract, the next year the scrappy newspaper was successful in pulling

390-532: A more-than-40-year tenure. In the early 20th century, an edition of the Examiner circulated in the East Bay under the Oakland Examiner masthead. Into the late 20th century, the paper circulated well beyond San Francisco. In 1982, for example, the Examiner ' s zoned weekly supplements within the paper were titled "City", " Peninsula ", " Marin / Sonoma " and " East Bay ". Additionally, during

455-575: A neighborhood newspaper, carrying advertisements from neighborhood businesses and covering local news for neighborhood residents. Fang continued this "pro-neighborhood stance inspired by grass roots reporting" even as the paper grew to cover all of San Francisco and the San Francisco peninsula. The Independent achieved this through the use of targeting editorial content in 12 different zones over its total circulation of 379,000 copies covering from San Francisco through Redwood City. The Independent

520-732: A poker debt." William Randolph Hearst hired S.S. (Sam) Chamberlain , who had started the first American newspaper in Paris, as managing editor and Arthur McEwen as editor, and changed the Examiner from an evening to a morning paper. Under him, the paper's popularity increased greatly, with the help of such writers as Ambrose Bierce , Mark Twain , and the San Francisco-born Jack London . It also found success through its version of yellow journalism , with ample use of foreign correspondents and splashy coverage of scandals such as two entire pages of cables from Vienna about

585-502: A protest outside the offices of the Examiner in response to a series of news articles disparaging people in San Francisco's gay bars and clubs. The peaceful protest against the Examiner turned tumultuous and was later called "Friday of the Purple Hand" and "Bloody Friday of the Purple Hand." Examiner employees "dumped a barrel of printers' ink on the crowd from the roof of the newspaper building." The protestors "used

650-470: A salary of $ 500,000 per year, four times his salary at The Independent . In addition, under the terms of the deal, Reilly and his hired lawyers alleged that the Fang family could pocket half of every dollar over $ 15 million of the $ 25 million subsidy they received from Hearst. All of the critics charges proved false and Fang's purchase of the Examiner was approved in federal court. The Independent

715-542: A stocking stuffer," Reilly said. He also owns Gentry Magazine and the Nob Hill Gazette . He then hired editor-in-chief Carly Schwartz in 2021. Under her leadership, a broadsheet -style newspaper was re-introduced, and she launched two newsletters with a nod to the rise in popularity of email marketing models such as Substack . Schwartz also put the SF Weekly on hiatus "for the foreseeable future," ending

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780-672: A subsidy of $ 66 million, to be paid over three years. From their side, the Fangs paid Hearst US$ 100 for the Examiner . Reilly later acquired the Examiner in 2020. On February 24, 2003, the Examiner became a free daily newspaper , printed Sunday through Friday. On February 19, 2004, the Fang family sold the Examiner and its printing plant, together with the two Independent newspapers, to Philip Anschutz of Denver, Colorado . His new company, Clarity Media Group , launched The Washington Examiner in 2005 and published The Baltimore Examiner from 2006 to 2009. In 2006, Anschutz donated

845-458: A venture capitalist. The Independent backed the election of Mayor Willie Brown in 1995 and partnered with Brown's administration on a number of neighborhood and diversity initiatives for San Francisco. The Independent also supported the crime prevention policies of then Supervisor Terence Hallinan in his successful campaign to become San Francisco District Attorney. Fang served as co-chair of District Attorney Hallinan's transition committee. As

910-735: Is delivered free to select neighborhoods in San Francisco and San Mateo counties, and to single-copy outlets throughout San Francisco , San Mateo , Santa Clara , and Alameda counties. By February 2008, the company had transformed the newspaper's examiner.com domain into a national hyperlocal brand, with local websites throughout the United States. Clarity Media sold the Examiner to San Francisco Newspaper Company LLC in 2011. The company's investors included then-President and Publisher Todd Vogt, Chief Financial Officer Pat Brown, and David Holmes Black . Inaccurate early media reports claimed that Black's business, Black Press , had bought

975-664: The Lake Merced Independent . Marsha Fontes, a local historian, took the reins two decades later in 1979, covering its suburban residential area, institutions surrounding the public water reservoir of Lake Merced , in the southwest part of San Francisco, California. She sold it after almost a decade of work to Ted Fang and the Asian American descendents Fang family in 1987. As the new editor and publisher, Fang almost immediately began ambitiously growing The Independent , expanding its printed appearance from

1040-531: The San Francisco Call —brought out a joint edition. The Examiner offices were destroyed on April 18, 1906, but when the city was rebuilt, a new structure, the Hearst Building, arose in its place at Third and Market streets. It opened in 1909, and in 1937, the facade, entranceway, and lobby underwent extensive remodeling designed by architect Julia Morgan . Through the middle third of

1105-557: The San Francisco Independent and the San Mateo Independent . San Francisco political consultant Clint Reilly filed a lawsuit against Hearst, charging that the deal did not ensure two competitive newspapers and was instead a generous deal designed to curry approval. However, on July 27, 2000, a federal judge approved the Fangs' assumption of the Examiner name, its archives, 35 delivery trucks, and

1170-418: The Examiner boasted, among other writers, such columnists as veteran sportswriter Prescott Sullivan, the popular Herb Caen , who took an eight-year hiatus from the Chronicle (1950–1958), and Kenneth Rexroth , one of the best-known men of California letters and a leading San Francisco Renaissance poet, who contributed weekly impressions of the city from 1960 to 1967. Ultimately, circulation battles ended in

1235-562: The Independent . Said Brian Antonio, a clerk at the Pacific Stock Exchange of The Independent : "Oh, that's the one nobody reads. That's the one that goes right in the recycling bin." The Independent developed the free-newspaper business model to a new level, with all revenue generated from advertising sources and no paid subscription revenue. The Independent also did not sell copies through newsracks. This mirrored

1300-734: The Mayerling Incident ; satire; and patriotic enthusiasm for the Spanish–American War and the 1898 annexation of the Philippines . William Randolph Hearst created the masthead with the "Hearst Eagle" and the slogan Monarch of the Dailies by 1889, at the latest. After the great earthquake and fire of 1906 destroyed much of San Francisco, the Examiner and its rivals—the San Francisco Chronicle and

1365-720: The Redwood City Almanac . By 1997, the weeklies began publishing twice weekly and in 1998, the Independent Newspaper Group officially became America's largest non-daily newspaper, when its eight Bay Area mastheads all changed their names to The Independent . The following August, the Hearst Corporation, owners of the San Francisco Examiner and the largest private publishers in the world, announced their purchase of

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1430-559: The SF Examiner and SF Chronicle , and into the SF Independent and newspapers targeting minority populations. The Independent received a significant source of revenue from legal notices, which brought in an estimated $ 917,670 in 2000. The added effect of the free newspaper model was to develop targeted advertising down to the zip code and even sub-zip code level. This was a revolutionary approach to newspapers which had in

1495-444: The SF Examiner that the Independent's presses were the most antiquated he had ever seen. Liebes was a former Examiner reporter with deep contacts at both dailies. In 1992, the newspaper industry magazine Editor and Publisher characterized The Independent and SF Examiner relationship as "Newspapers feuding in San Francisco". In fact, The Independent first sued the SF Examiner and SF Chronicle publishers in 1989, accusing

1560-611: The SF Examiner , The Independent led a campaign to stop Hearst's takeover of the SF Chronicle until they relented. The Independent ran front page pictures of San Franciscans like Andre Siordia, an employee of Casa Sanchez restaurant hanging up signs to "Stop the Phoney Sale – Keep San Francisco a 2 newspaper town. In turn, San Francisco Chronicle reporter Carolyn Said conducted an informal poll of people in San Francisco's Financial District and revealed complete dismissal of

1625-520: The " San Francisco Examiner ', one of the Bay Area region's two major daily papers (The Examiner originally owned by late-19th and early-20th centuries newspaper syndicate legendary mogul / titan William Randolph Hearst , 1863–1951) and so the Fangs became the first Asian American family to run a major daily newspaper in America . The Independent covered neighborhood stories and issues that affected

1690-406: The "Laguna Honda First" campaign resulted in a $ 400 million rebuild of the institution as the only publicly funded long-term care facility of its kind in the U.S. The Independent also became a leading voice in citywide elections. In 1991, The Independent published its first book, The Agnos Years , a collection of Warren Hinckle's columns critical of then Mayor Art Agnos. Up to that point,

1755-674: The "Monarch of the Dailies" by then-owner William Randolph Hearst and the flagship of the Hearst chain, the Examiner converted to free distribution early in the 21st century and is owned by Clint Reilly Communications, which bought the newspaper at the end of 2020 along with the SF Weekly . The Examiner was founded in 1863 as the Democratic Press , a pro- Confederacy , pro- slavery , pro- Democratic Party paper opposed to Abraham Lincoln , but after his assassination in 1865,

1820-482: The Fang Family through its purchase to keep it from being shut down a century and a half later by the descendent Hearst Communications media empire, after they bought the longtime morning competitor, the San Francisco Chronicle with its De Young family ownership in 2000 from the remaining family ownership members. The Independent publication was founded in 1958 as a neighborhood newspaper originally called

1885-534: The Independent to cease advocating for Brown and Hallinan and criticizing their opponents. The newspaper was also criticized by Chronicle columnists in 1996 for taking sides in a San Mateo County Board of Supervisors race, working to defeat incumbent Mary Griffin. Ted Fang denied the accusations that he was slanting his newspaper's coverage against Griffin, and said, "I've expressed my personal opinion. That has nothing to do with editorial coverage." Adding, regarding Griffin's refusal to be interviewed by editorial board of

1950-591: The Independent: "Anytime a politician becomes so powerful they can choose which newspaper they want to talk to, or don't want to talk to, I think that's when the citizens of the county should be afraid." Ted Fang has defended his newspaper's actions, saying, "We fight for what we believe in." San Francisco Chronicle managing editor Daniel E. Rosenheim in 1995 rated The Independent staff young and hard-working commenting, "I find some of their coverage enlightening." San Francisco Examiner Once self-dubbed

2015-513: The SF Examiner – and its publisher William Randolph Hearst III – had been the leading editorial voice in San Francisco politics. That year, Hearst fired Hinckle and endorsed Agnos' re-election during the runoff. When Agnos was unseated by political newcomer and former police chief Frank Jordan, backed by The Independent , it also intensified the newspaper feud into open editorial warfare. The following year, Hearst retired as publisher to become

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2080-411: The San Francisco's newspaper wars in the controversies in the competition ongoing between the longtime two remaining major daily papers Examiner and Chronicle' left-over from the original half-dozen daily publications that once competed for readers and attention, circulated and served during the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries, when reading was the main form of mass communication media, (before

2145-542: The San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metropolitan area publications were reorganized and re-branded to be known simply as The Independent (without a geographic or city designation presaging its future multi-city regional expansion and vision). A decade later at the beginnings of the 21st century, in 2000, the Fang family then moved into national political media attention by purchasing the longtime Hearst Communications (media syndicate) flagship,

2210-524: The archives of the Examiner to the University of California, Berkeley Bancroft Library , the largest gift ever given to the library. Under Clarity's ownership, the Examiner pioneered a new business model for the newspaper industry. Designed to be read quickly, the Examiner is presented in a compact size without story jumps. It focuses on local news, business, entertainment, and sports, with an emphasis on content relevant to its local readers. It

2275-409: The brief Baltimore Examiner in 2006–2010, and still continuing of the formerly printed but now online publication (in 2024) of the nearby Washington Examiner , which has adopted a more right-wing Conservative political editorial positions on national and international issues and offering a competing views in a national voice (compared to its competition there in the national / federal capital of

2340-484: The bulk of the real estate community's advertising away from the Progress and into a new publication printed by the Independent. Then, on December 15, 1988, the San Francisco Progress shut its doors, ceased publication and filed for bankruptcy. In six days, on December 21, 1988, the Independent converted from a tabloid size to the traditional broadsheet newspaper size and increased circulation from 80,000 to 180,000. Over

2405-509: The competition of additional outlets of radio and television stations news departments starting in the late 1940s). During those 1990s, "papers war" , the San Francisco Bay area was one of the then few remaining American cities / metro areas with still competing papers of different owners. The Independent twice sued both of the city's daily newspapers, the Examiner and Chronicle , over monopolistic business practices by both of

2470-407: The demonstrators. Somebody could have been hurt if that ink had gotten into their eyes, but the police were knocking people to the ground." The accounts of police brutality included instances of women being thrown to the ground and protesters' teeth being knocked out. In its stylebook and by tradition, the Examiner refers to San Francisco as "The City" (capitalized), both in headlines and in

2535-475: The development of the San Francisco Bay area during this period, and each issue of the bi-weekly had twelve different editorial editions tailored to the city and suburbs on the peninsula to the south of different neighborhoods. Among the issues championed by The Independent included saving Laguna Honda Hospital and re-building it into one of the largest skilled nursing facilities in the country. The Independent'' s campaigning editorial positions also helped set

2600-451: The direction for San Francisco's future into the 21st century, helping to elect the first police chief to serve as Mayor of San Francisco , the first African American to serve as Mayor of the city, and one of the most progressive / liberal positioned city prosecutors / district attorneys in America for the City of San Francisco. The Independent was a key player in the last chapter of

2665-426: The editorial attacks continued to appear prominently in news pages for all San Franciscans to read. The SF Examiner assigned three reporters to investigate James Fang, Ted's brother, who had been appointed as San Francisco's Director of Commerce and Trade by new Mayor Frank Jordan. The three investigative reporters published five front page stories in a week, accusing James of "pumping up" his resume. The Independent

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2730-408: The emerging model of internet news during those times, where news information is available free to consumers and not just available to those who could afford to pay for a newspaper. In 1994, The Independent waged a campaign to have San Francisco place its public notices in free newspapers to make them more accessible to the public. This resulted in San Francisco's legal notice advertising moving out of

2795-524: The first African American to serve as mayor of San Francisco and encouraged diversity among department heads including the first gay man to run the SF Department of Public Works and the first African American to serve as Fire Chief. The San Francisco Police Department also made great strides, with its first Asian American police chief, first African American police chief and first female police chief during this period. The Fang family heavily protested

2860-453: The first prominent Asian American publishers in the news industry, and as the first neighborhood publication to aggressively challenge San Francisco's entrenched establishment and longstanding major newspapers, the Fangs and The Independent were alternately scrutinized and underestimated. Bud Liebes, 10-year chair of San Francisco State University's journalism department scoffed at the Independent's plan to expand citywide distribution, telling

2925-483: The ink to scrawl slogans on the building walls" and slap purple hand prints "throughout downtown [San Francisco]," resulting in "one of the most visible demonstrations of gay power," according to the Bay Area Reporter . According to Larry LittleJohn, then president of Society for Individual Rights , "At that point, the tactical squad arrived – not to get the employees who dumped the ink, but to arrest

2990-607: The late 20th century, an edition of the Examiner was made available in Nevada , which, coming out in the morning rather than in the afternoon as the San Francisco edition did, would feature news content from the San Francisco edition of the day before—for instance, Tuesday's news in the Nevada edition that came out on Wednesday—but with dated, non-hard news content—comic strips, feature columnists—for Wednesday. Television broadcasting Too Many Requests If you report this error to

3055-513: The longtime media leader The Washington Post ). When Marsha Fontes sold the San Francisco Independent in 1987, she generated $ 5,000 per week in advertising revenue. Ted Fang was running his family's printing business where the Independent was being printed, and negotiated a deal to purchase the tabloid from Fontes. It was the first time Fang would take on the title of Editor and Publisher. Later media coverage popularized

3120-584: The major dailies. And all three newspapers frequently covered the activities of their competitors, with articles about each other in sometimes disparaging terms. The media campaign in the Bay area even was described by the national journalism / publishing industry's trade publication Editor & Publisher magazine. As of 2000, The Independent was distributed three times in the week,. but by March 2001, The Independent had ceased delivering to homes on Saturdays, being distributed only at newsstands and as an insert into

3185-455: The morning daily San Francisco Chronicle . They also claimed the San Francisco Examiner was not a viable business operation and planned to shut it down. The Independent led an effort to keep the Examiner open, and ultimately the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney General Janet Reno forced the Hearst's to sell the SF Examiner to the Fang family in 2000. The Independent started as

3250-612: The needs of free newspaper publishers. Generally representing a non-establishment viewpoint, The Independent's editorial coverage became more ambitious and strident as the newspaper grew. In the 1990s for example, The Independent began an "aggressive public awareness and voter education campaign with the goal of raising hundreds of millions of dollars to build a new state-of-the-art facility" for Laguna Honda Hospital. With political consultant Jack Davis, Independent columnist Warren Hinckle, healthcare union leader Sal Roselli and Public Health Department Director Dr. Mitchell Katz, among others,

3315-480: The newly acquired San Francisco Examiner according to its also widespread in the last three decades, with the new computer media with its internet website and online news source " SFGate ". The newspaper has since stopped publication as. it reorganized and redeveloped the Examiner as a free advertising -supported only, daily newspaper, plus its temporary expansion into several other American cities with newly established Examiner competing printed papers there, such as

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3380-493: The next ten years, the Independent continued its growth pace, beginning three times a week publication in 1990, and then purchasing a chain of weeklies owned by the Chicago Tribune in 1993. The six mastheads included Burlingame Hillsborough Boutique & Villager, San Carlos Belmont Enquirer-Bulletin, Foster City Progress, Redwood City Tribune, San Mateo Weekly and Millbrae Sun . Later The Independent also acquired

3445-421: The paper's offices were destroyed by a mob, and starting on June 12, 1865, it was called The Daily Examiner . In 1880, mining engineer and entrepreneur George Hearst bought the Examiner . Seven years later, after being elected to the U.S. Senate , he gave it to his son, William Randolph Hearst , who was then 23 years old. The elder Hearst "was said to have received the failing paper as partial payment of

3510-407: The paper. In 2014, Vogt sold his shares to Black Press. Present-day owners of the Examiner also own SF Weekly , an alternative weekly , and previously owned the now-shuttered San Francisco Bay Guardian . In December 2020, Clint Reilly, under his company, Clint Reilly Communications, acquired the SF Examiner for an undisclosed sum. The acquisition included buying the SF Weekly "like

3575-423: The past only published advertising throughout the paper's circulation network no matter how distant from the advertiser's location. It also foreshadowed the micro-targeting now available in digital marketing campaigns. The Fang's were the first Asian American family to build a newspaper chain and ultimately own a major U.S. daily newspaper. They were also one of the first Asian American families to gain prominence in

3640-424: The proposed purchase by Hearst , owner of the San Francisco Examiner , of the San Francisco Chronicle , saying it would hurt the Independent. Eventually, the Examiner was sold to The Independent by Hearst to avoid anti-trust litigation. Critics, like former campaign manager and failed mayoral candidate Clint Reilly made wild accusations against The Independent and Fang, falsely claiming that Fang would make

3705-411: The story of the Independent being given to Fang as a birthday present from his parents John and Florence Fang . Ironically when Fang took over the San Francisco Examiner thirteen years later, this story came to mirror William Randolph Hearst 's story of receiving the SF Examiner newspaper as a gift from his father exactly a century earlier in 1887. Under new ownership, the Independent quickly took

3770-592: The text of stories. San Francisco slang has traditionally referred to the newspaper in abbreviated slang form as "the Ex" (and the Chronicle as "the Chron"). When the Chronicle Publishing Company divested its interests, Hearst purchased the Chronicle . To satisfy antitrust concerns, Hearst sold the Examiner to ExIn, LLC, a corporation owned by the politically connected Fang family, publishers of

3835-603: The twentieth century, the Examiner was one of several dailies competing for the city's and the Bay Area's readership; the San Francisco News , the San Francisco Call-Bulletin , and the Chronicle all claimed significant circulation, but ultimately attrition left the Examiner one chief rival—the Chronicle . Strident competition prevailed between the two papers in the 1950s and 1960s;

3900-409: The two dailies of using predatory business practices and below cost pricing to undercut The Independent's citywide expansion. During a brief détente after John Fang (Ted's father) passed suddenly in 1992 the lawsuit was settled between both parties. But it was quickly revived in 1993. The Independent won a jury trial with punitive damages, but the verdict was overturned on appeal in 2000. Meanwhile,

3965-497: Was also known for its animosity toward the Examiner and began running a weekly comic strip called "Mr. Sharon Stone," a dig at Phil Bronstein , who was executive editor of the Examiner and married to actress Sharon Stone . Independent columnist Warren Hinckle, who had formerly worked at the Examiner , described The Independent's coverage of his former newspaper "a holy crusade". When the Hearst Corporation proposed shuttering

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4030-496: Was an avid protector of the free press and a fighter for more open government. One of the Independent's first major actions under Fang was to file suit against the City and County of San Francisco to open up closed-door meetings being held by then Mayor Art Agnos and some of the city supervisors. Fang and The Independent were also a co-founder of the California Free Press Association to advocate for

4095-622: Was approximately 100,000 on weekdays and 500,000 on Sundays. By 1995, discussion was already brewing in print media about the possible shuttering of the Examiner due to low circulation and an extremely disadvantageous revenue sharing agreement for the Chronicle . On October 31, 1969, sixty members of the Gay Liberation Front , the Committee for Homosexual Freedom (CHF), and the Gay Guerilla Theatre group staged

4160-612: Was named to Hallinan's transitional team after he was elected, and James Fang was named to Brown's. More criticism centered around city loans given to Pan Asia Venture Capital Corp., owned by the Fang family. The company was given a $ 650,000 loan from the Mayor's Office of Community Development, which came with stipulations against political use. However, in 1999, the Coalition of San Francisco Neighborhoods and Harvey Milk Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Club both passed resolutions calling on

4225-420: Was widely considered to reflect the political biases of the Fang family. In 1991 Independent columnist Warren Hinckle wrote a booklet attacking then-mayor Art Agnos , which was published and distributed by the Fang family's printing company. The Fang family was active in fundraising for Willie Brown and Terence Hallinan and the family's printing company printed campaign literature for Hallinan. Ted Fang

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