Plus: Thousands attended San Francisco’s Hunky Jesus completion — fluffing right-wingers the wrong way for yet another year.
The San Francisco Standard, the SF-centric publication — formerly known as Here Say Media (???) — headquartered in the Mission District is the fiscal byproduct of billionaire Michael Moritz, a chairman of the investment firm Sequoia Capital. It began publishing content in 2021 with the help of a then-skeleton team of writers and editors, each of whom wore numerous editorial hats. The SF Standards has now ballooned to a full-blown newsroom; the media outlet currently lists 49 staff members.
The SF Standard doesn’t run digital ads, nor does it have much in the means of generating revenue (so far as the public can see). The SF Standard’s sole means of remaining, albeit opaquely, financially sound is because Moritiz continues funneling funds into the outlet. To say the SF Standard is non-partisan is akin to claiming human-caused climate change isn’t warming the world — it would be an outright lie.
As such, its journalistic integrity and impartiality have fallen under ongoing scrutiny; the SF Standard publishing pieces that are objectively moderate or pedestal issues Moritz has supported in the past only raise more eyebrows.
In October 2022, editor-in-chief Jonathan Weber resigned, citing unrectifiable differences with the company’s chief executive Griffin Gaffney. Julie Makinen, whose career spans decades, marked by applaudable roles like heading the Desert Sun in southern California and the Los Angeles Times’s Beijing bureau, took Weber’s place in March of last year. However, Mission Local recently learned Makinen left the outlet to care for her parents.
Per the independent media outlet, Makinen’s mother was “hospitalized at Stanford over the holidays” and remains “ in hospice”; Makinen’s father “has had his own health setbacks,” as well.
In her place, executive editor Jon Steinberg and managing editor Jeff Bercovici are absorbing her responsibilities and helming with the editorial direction of the publication; both editors have been with the publication for less than five months, as of publishing.
Makine’s departure exists as a reminder of how precarious and unplannable life can be; there’s no room for shame nor misplaced judgment for putting one’s family first over work. But given the SF Standard’s controversial beginnings, its singular funding source, and its history with editorial hires (and departures), it’s news that can’t be glossed over.
What else transpired over the weekend? Let’s take a look.
- Hunky Jesus rose in Mission Dolores Park for the 16th year. Thousands gathered at the annual Easter Sunday happening where this year’s winning Ken Jesus took the crown (of thorns). More info.
- There was a stabbing near the Whole Foods location in Balboa Park. First responders arrived at the 1100 Block of Ocean Avenue around 9:10 a.m. Sunday, where they discovered a man suffering from a stabbing wound; the victim was transported to a nearby hospital where he was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. More info.
- Two people were injured after their homes caught fire in an earlier Saturday morning blaze in the Mission District. Several other residents of the residential building at Wiese and 15th streets were also displaced; the fire is believed to have originated inside a nearby car before spreading to the building. More info.
- Nematode and “small, nerdy” and childlike Garry Tan were highlighted in the NYT. Former San Francisco Chronicle columnist Heather Night penned the sprawling piece. More info.
Feature image: Courtesy of The San Francisco Standard
