#TBT: The Bay Area Newspapers and Magazines That Are No More

14 December 2017

V. Alexandra de F. Szoenyi

No one loves a magazine or a newspaper more than we do; and being a bustling, creative metropolis, the Bay Area has its share of top-notch periodicals.

But as everyone knows, publishing is tough and favorite rags come and go, whether due to lack of funding, changing readership, the advent of digital or, you know, writers quitting their pen gigs to instead go mine for gold.

This week, take a look back at some local gazettes that have come and gone.

TheCalifornia Star was the first newspaper in San Francisco. Debuted on January 9, 1847, the paper was started by Samuel Brannan, who published a number of Mormon newspapers in New York before bringing his small press to California with a group of Mormon settlers in 1846. It gained popularity as the voice of the Gold Rush. But the temptation for riches proved to be too much for the staff the bear; the team bailed on the publication to join the gold miner, forcing the paper to fold in June 1848.
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The Daily Alta California, also known as Alta California, became the state's first daily newspaper with its launch on January 4, 1849. Located at 529 California Street, the paper became known for its relation to Mark Twain, who contributed stories chronicling his experiences and later became a traveling correspondent. A descendant of the California Star, the outlet was also founded by Samuel Brannan. It closed in June 1891.
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If something fabulous and cool was going down around town, you would have surely seen it in PaperCity, a Texas-based fashion and lifestyle magazine, perhaps best known for its party coverage, that published out of Grant Avenue offices until 2006 when it shuttered both its San Francisco and Atlanta editions. You can still catch the mag in Houston and Dallas.
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San Jose Magazine supplied 34,000 readers with the latest news from the South Bay for 11 years before deciding to step away from print in 2008. Although the magazine was reportedly still profitable according to publisher Gilbert Sangari, the team decided to shift its resources toward its faster-growing video-production venture creating 30-minute "Best of the Bay" shows for KRON-TV.
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If you are a woman of style who lived in San Francisco (or L.A. or NYC) in the mid- to late-aughties, then you certainly remember Splendora with all the warm fuzzies. Founded by entrepreneur and fashion maven Gina Pell, Splendora was a trailblazer in online publishing, offering up all-digital city and shopping guides way back then. In 2009, Pell and her partner Amy Parker sold their beloved brand to the video shopping site Joyus; and in 2015, the pair landed in 7x7's Hot 20 when they returned to the business of stylish e-newsletters with the launch of TheWhat.
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944 was another journal focusing on fashion, entertainment and local movers and shakers, with publications in various U.S. cities including Phoenix, San Diego, and Miami; the SF edition launched in 2008. The entire operation shut down just three years later.
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Daily Candy San Francisco (2000 - 2014)

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Daily Candy was our stylish, in-the-know girlfriend who was always eager to fill us in on the next big thing, beautifying our inbox with cute illustrations and sassy lingo. Founded by Dany Levy, the New York–based newsletter-turned-full-on-media-brand grew quickly to include several cities across the U.S. and London before being sold to Comcast in 2008. What happened thereafter is tragic; parent company NBC Universal pulled the plug in 2014.

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It's been a tough go for alternative weeklies, and none know it so well as the San Francisco Bay Guardian, that bastion of the weird and wonderful founded by Bruce Brugmann in 1966. Citing financial reasons, the paper shuttered in 2014; in 2016, the brand was resuscitated online.
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Welp. Alas, 7x7 has also not been immune to the pall cast upon the publishing industry in recent decades. Founded by Tom and Heather Hartle and launched in September 2001 (talk about timing), 7x7 relished 14 years in print (and multiple owners) before finally following the lead of our half-million online readers and going all-digital a few years back. As our editor in chief Chloe Hennen said in her announcement on February 20, 2015, "7x7.com is no longer our sidepiece; it's our main squeeze."
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The Oakland Tribune flexed its editorial muscles for over 140 years, a stunning feat for any business or publication. Sadly, the daily newspaper closed its doors on April 4th, 2016, folding into the existing East Bay Times. The Tribune Tower in Oakland served as the paper's headquarters from 1927 to 2007.
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Lucky Peach (2011 - 2017)

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With offices in SF and New York,Lucky Peach quickly gained a cult following of obsessive foodies nationwide thanks to its uniquely modern, irreverent take on cooking and restaurant culture and a dream team at the helm—former McSweeney's editor/publisher Chris Ying, NYT restaurant critic Peter Meehan, and chef David Chang of Momofuku fame. By the time Lucky Peachcalled it quits in 2017, 30,000 subscribers were devouring its print magazine while around 750,000 digested its website monthly.

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SFist (2004 - 2017)

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SFist ranks right up there with Daily Candy and The Bold Italic as the one of the most heartbreaking closures in modern media. The site began its journey in August 2004 and quickly became the go-to resource for San Franciscans who preferred a hearty dose of snark along with its local news, thanks in large part to longtime editor Brock Keeling (who later brought his singular brand of sass to the pages of 7x7 before becoming editor in chief at SF Curbed). But then shit went down, and the shocking announcement came on November 2, 2017 that parent company Gothamist would shutter after the staff had voted to unionize. More than 100 jobs were lost, including that of SFist EIC, and one-time 7x7 contributor, Jay Barmann. R.I.P.

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