San Francisco Bay Guardian shuts down after 48 years

Founders and former publishers of the Bay Guardian newspaper, Bruce Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble, stand outside their San Francisco office after the announcement of the sale of the Guardian to the San Francisco Examiner, Wednesday, April 25, 2012 in San Francisco Calif. less Founders and former publishers of the Bay Guardian newspaper, Bruce Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble, stand outside their San Francisco office after the announcement of the sale of the Guardian to the San ... more Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle Photo: Lance Iversen, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 8 Caption Close San Francisco Bay Guardian shuts down after 48 years 1 / 8 Back to Gallery

The San Francisco Bay Guardian weekly newspaper, a leading progressive voice in the city for 48 years, is closing for financial reasons, its publisher said Tuesday. Its final issue will come out Wednesday.

Dear community: The SF Media Co. has just pulled its funding from the 48 year old San Francisco Bay Guardian. More details to come. — SF Bay Guardian (@sfbg) October 14, 2014

“It is the hardest decision I’ve had to make in my 20-year newspaper career,” said Publisher Glenn Zuehls of the San Francisco Media Co., which has operated the alternative paper since 2012 and also runs the San Francisco Examiner and the SF Weekly.

The end came in a hurry. Even before the public announcement was made, the newspaper’s website and Facebook page were shut down.

“We were told at 10 a.m. (Tuesday) that this issue would be our last. They shut down everything — our sites, our social media, our passkeys, right away,” said Steven T. Jones, the paper’s editor. “We’ve all been laid off, effective immediately. ... I need an escort to go to the bathroom and get back to the office to pack up my stuff.”

The Bay Guardian was founded in 1966 by Bruce Brugmann and his wife, Jean Dibble, who ran it until the 2012 acquisition by San Francisco Media. One of the West’s first alternative weeklies, it raged against the establishment, notably Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and downtown developers.

“We put out a hell of a paper for all those years,” said Brugmann, whose only connection with the paper since the sale was as a reader. “I’m sorry we’re not going to be around anymore to promote our causes and progressive issues.”

'Kingmaker on the left’

The closure is a blow to the progressive side of San Francisco politics, where the Bay Guardian has been a leading player for decades.

“The Guardian was truly a kingmaker on the left,” said Eric Jaye, a San Francisco political consultant. “For progressive candidates, the Guardian’s endorsement was ... the progressive primary.”

Photo: Sfbg.com The website of the San Francisco Bay Guardian was replaced with...

Supervisor David Campos knows what that’s about. In 2008, he was one of three left-of-center candidates running to replace Tom Ammiano in District Nine, which includes the Mission District. The Bay Guardian’s endorsement pushed him to the front of the line and helped carry him to victory.

“It was an important progressive endorsement in a progressive district,” said David Latterman, founder of Fall Line Analytics, a political research firm in the city. “It had an impact on the vote.”

The Bay Guardian’s endorsement of Campos over fellow Supervisor David Chiu for Ammiano’s Assembly seat in November shows where the paper put its priorities.

While allowing that Chiu “wouldn’t be a bad legislator,” the paper argued that Campos has proved himself as an “effective and trustworthy advocate for renters, workers, consumers and those who need support against powerful economic and political players.”

Less visible

The Bay Guardian, whose office was on Market Street, has been “a very important player is San Francisco politics, particularly on the progressive side,” Campos said. “This is a sad day for San Francisco ... but progressive politics aren’t going away.”

But the loss of the Bay Guardian takes away some of the day-to-day visibility of the left and its issues.

From its early years, the paper had a focus on local politics that other media outlets in the city weren’t willing to match, combined with a dedication to a progressive point of view that mainstream media wouldn’t allow.

“Because of their willingness to advocate most strongly for their causes, at their apex they were probably the most influential newspaper in San Francisco,” said Jaye, whose campaigns often found themselves targets of the Bay Guardian’s ire. “Even when they were wrong, they were doggedly wrong.”

That passion helped make the Bay Guardian a distinctive part of the city’s political landscape, said Democratic state Sen. Mark Leno, who has had a mixed relationship with the paper since his days as a San Francisco supervisor.

“In many ways, whether you agree or disagree with them, the Guardian has assumed the role of social conscience” of the city, Leno said. “They had the wherewithal to stake a position, make a case and unapologetically push for it.”

Dwindling presence

While the timing of the Bay Guardian’s closure may have been a shock, the shutdown wasn’t really a surprise. Ever since Brugmann and his wife sold the paper in 2012, there’s been a sense that it was on life support.

Even before the sale, Brugmann had made major layoffs in response to the same falling revenue that affected the entire newspaper industry. Last year, longtime Editor Tim Redmond lost his job after he refused to make deeper cuts in the staff.

“San Francisco — and the world — was a very different place when the Bay Guardian began publishing in 1966,” Zuehls said in his statement announcing the closure. “Many of the causes the paper championed over the decades have shifted and evolved.”

Away from print

Like readers of many other newspapers, much of the Bay Guardian’s audience has migrated to online sites and social media for much of its news, including the rundowns of the city’s art, cultural, music and food scenes that joined politics as the paper’s purview.

“The Guardian’s readers were early adapters to the other ways to get news,” Jaye said. “Their numbers began to decline and the number of San Franciscans who call themselves progressives also began to decline.”

The closure announcement read almost as a valedictory to an era that’s passed.

“The political and social climate of the city, in part as a result of the paper's coverage, has become more open, transparent and inclusive,” Zuehls said. “The Bay Guardian leaves a legacy as a forceful advocate for social change that will always be a source of pride for everyone who was part of it or who valued its voice in our community.”

Hard to replace

But even moderates and others who haven’t been fans of the Bay Guardian’s politics realize that it’s important to find something that will take its place, Latterman said.

“The Guardian dove deeper into local politics than anyone else,” he said. “Who’s going to take up that mantle?”

It’s a question that concerns the paper’s abruptly unemployed workers, who still aren’t sure what happens next.

The paper’s owners “have told us that if we can find a buyer, the Guardian can be sold,” Jones said. “For the members of our community that want to own a progressive newspaper at fire sale prices, contact us.”

Chronicle staff writer Demian Bulwa contributed to this report.

John Wildermuth and Vivian Ho are San Francisco Chronicle

staff writers. E-mail: jwildermuth@sfchronicle.com, vho@sfchronicle.com