Editor John Mecklin takes aim at a "smelly BS-offensive emanating" from the San Francisco Bay Guardian, which, he says, contains "huge doses of distortion, some outright falsehood, and very little truth." Mecklin says the "capper" to this offensive is the predatory-pricing lawsuit that Bay Guardian filed last week against SF Weekly and its sister publication, East Bay Express. The Bay Guardian has long tried "to convince San Francisco of the dangerous evil that a New Times-owned SF Weekly represents," writes Mecklin. "Over that time, SF Weekly has sailed ahead, and the Bay Guardian has foundered." (Second item on linked page.) Also addressed: SF Weekly's response to Puni-comic controversy. (Main item on linked page.)
The San Francisco Bay Guardian filed a lawsuit in the city's Superior Court against SF Weekly, East Bay Express and New Times Media, LLC, which owns the two weeklies. The suit alleges that New Times repeatedly sold ads at less than the cost of producing them and offered secret deals to advertisers to keep them from advertising in the Bay Guardian. Both activities would violate California law. New Times owns 11 alternative papers, all of which, like the Bay Guardian, are members of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies.
Veteran reporter Savannah Blackwell is among those whose jobs were eliminated. Several other workers had their hours cut. Executive Editor Tim Redmond blames the downsizing on "a brutal economy that the president isn't making any better and a very difficult national ad sales environment." REDMOND TELLS AAN: "The Chronicle and E&P stories weren't accurate; the number of layoffs was fewer than six."
Ron Curran (pictured), a "dogged, award- winning investigator and unblushing idealist" died this week in his Southern California home, according to his former employer, the LA Weekly. Curran, who left the Weekly after ten years to work at the San Francisco Bay Guardian, recently founded the alternative wire service, Pulp Syndicate. "Ron was one of the best writers and reporters I ever worked with," Bay Guardian Executive Editor Tim Redmond tells the Weekly.
