Changes at the Chron: Ding, dong, the witch is dead; and "we care about tenants"

Chronicle Hires Shaw to Replace Saunders as Chief Political Columnist
by Randy Shaw
Apr. 01‚ 2009

As we approach the fifth year anniversary of Beyond Chron, I have been hired by the San Francisco Chronicle to replace Debra Saunders as its chief political columnist. To say that the Chronicle’s offer surprised me is an understatement. I have long argued that the Chronicle’s reliance on Republican Saunders has alienated subscribers and cost the paper revenue. I assumed my comments were being ignored at Hearst headquarters, but I was wrong. My hiring is likely the first of many dramatic moves the Chronicle is planning to secure the circulation and advertising boost that is necessary for its survival. And best of all, my contract allows me to continue writing for Beyond Chron on days my Chronicle column does not run. Here’s some other changes we can expect in the weeks ahead.

I fully realize that the Chronicle’s hiring of the founder and editor of Beyond Chron is an act of desperation that probably means the paper’s days will soon be at end. But there was such a wonderful sense of irony in my replacing Debra Saunders that I could simply not resist the opportunity to do so.

Other Rumored Changes at 5th and Mission

In my interviews with Chronicle editors, I got the sense that other long overdue changes would finally be made. For example, in place of the paper’s week group of national reporters, I suggested – and they seemed quite interested – that the paper hire Jed Lewison or another fine reporters from Daily Kos. The newspaper format would provide these fine reporters more space, and would expand the Chronicle’s readership by including content from these writers not available on the Kos site.

I also suggested that urbanist Gray Brechin be given a weekly column that would prove an excellent companion to that John King currently provides in the Chronicle. Brechin would address broader land use and transit issues, something the Chronicle has shortchanged for years.

Van Jones, recently hired by the Obama Administration as a Green Jobs consultant, is a successful author with a large Bay Area following. Don’t be surprised to see the Chronicle launch a weekly “Van’s Vantage” column in which the activist provides the latest news and views on the Green Jobs campaign.

Rachel Gordon is among the Chronicle’s more popular writers but seems to have been locked in a closet in recent years. She may soon break out with a regular feature on “life in the city,” something the paper has lacked for years.

“We Care About Tenants”

No, that’s not a misprint. The Chronicle finally realizes that you can’t sell papers to a population you alienate and disparage, namely the hundreds of thousands of Bay Area tenants. To send a new message, the Chronicle will unveil next to its masthead the phrase “We Care About Tenants.”

Will this mean that the Chronicle no longer acts as the mouthpiece for the real estate industry? It’s too soon to tell. And cynics may suggest that this is pure marketing without any substance.

But I’m told that Chronicle editors now realize that they’re not getting many real estate ads, so the economic pressure to stake out pro-landlord stances 100% of the time is no longer so great. And by including this motto, the paper sets itself up for really looking bad if it’s editorial positions do not reflect at least some pro-tenant positions.

Looking Like the Bay Area

Finally, the Chronicle may finally decide to have a columnist group that looks like the Bay Area. That means writers connected to the Asian and Latino communities, whose disconnection from the paper has hurt its bottom line for years. The paper is considering formal relationships with El Tecolote, which would really boost its credibility among Latinos and Mission District residents, as well as the Sing Tao Daily, which would help its Asian community sales.

In my new perch as Chronicle columnist, I’ll keep readers updated on changes at the paper as I learn about them. And I’ll include an email suggestion box so you can submit your own ideas for what could be a version of the San Francisco Chronicle that we never thought would emerge.