While many newspapers are laying off reporters and cutting budgets, KPIX CBS5’s Mike Sugerman reports that a war has erupted in San Francisco between two free daily newspapers.

Sugerman: “The story begins with the new San Francisco Daily, a pip-squeak of a paper, really, compared to the big boys of the Bay Area. It was started in May by Dave Price* and a partner [Jim Pavelich], after they sold a chain of papers [Palo Alto Daily News, San Mateo Daily News, etc.] that were given out free and covered just local news in several communities around the Bay Area.”

Price: “All these major metropolitan papers are folding, and singing the blues, I still think people still want to read newspapers, it’s just that they want a different format. They want a format that gives them news about the community, folks in the community, tells them what their doing.”

Sugerman: “It’s doing well enough that one of the bigger papers in town, the San Francisco Examiner, has put out a paper called the City Star. It copies the Daily formula, right down to the format. …” More

*Full disclosure: Price is the Press Club’s Webmaster.