San Francisco Bay Guardian turns 40
Against the odds, in the face of stiff compeition, and despite the flight of classified personals ads to Craigslist, the San Francisco Bay Guardian celebrates its 40th anniversary today.
The paper marks the anniversary with a long essay by Executive Editor Tim Redmond and a piece by publisher Bruce Brugmann.
Redmond reviews some of the hobbyhorses the paper has ridden over the years: “Manhattanization” (they lost that one), Willie Brown (they succeeded in irritating him, at least), and PG&E (no appreciable effect on the energy giant).
Perhaps the most ridiculous thing Redmond says is “the early 90s were quiet” (page 15, if anyone makes it that far). Gee, I guess he missed ACT UP and Queer Nation and Basic Instinct and… well, anyway, it didn’t have anything to do with land developers or PG&E, so whatever, huh?
I can’t remember the last time I sat down and actually read a piece in the Bay Guardian. Yet it remains a hundred-plus page weekly; a visitor from New York might be forgiven for thinking it was the equivalent of the Village Voice. In my opinion, it’s simply irrelevant. I get more information from a neighborhood paper like the Noe Valley Voice.
You know, for some reason, I always just assumed that Tim Redmond and Bruce Brugmann were the same person.
you can actually read the Guardian in about 10 minutes. There is not much there that you hadn’t heard somewhere else. I think the Onion In Print is more of a threat to them.
Plus in the Onion you don’t have to read long winded poser rants about “Burning Man.”