Hello and welcome to 2025’s first edition of Scoop, the San Francisco Press Club’s monthly newsletter.

Here at the Press Club, we’re kicking off the new year by cosponsoring a panel about press freedom on January 14 with our friends at KALW and SPJ NorCal. There’s more information on the event available here.

It’s shaping up to be a significant year for the business and practice of journalism, from the second Trump administration to the ever-increasing adoption of generative AI by everyone from tech platforms to some publishers themselves. We’ll be following closely, and have big plans for the year: More events, more student scholarships, and a better-than-ever awards gala in December. (Check out the photos from our record-breaking 2024 event here!)

Questions, feedback, or want to flag an item for our next edition? Reach the editors at scoop@sfpressclub.org.

And now, on with the news…

MEDIA NEWS

San Francisco’s news racks are disappearing. The last city-owned ones will be phased out by early 2025, media entrepreneur (and Press Club board alum) Julia Gitis writes in Mission Local.

Eater SF is moving to a “regional” model after layoffs. The prominent Vox Media-owned food news site is restructuring its operations, according to a report from SFGate.

An OpenAI whistleblower who spoke to the New York Times has died. The death of Suchir Balaji, who lived in San Francisco, has been determined to be a suicide, The Mercury News reports.  

High profile Bay Area tech journalist Kara Swisher has floated a plan to buy The Washington Post. KRON4 reports that Swisher has been trying to enlist investors, though it’s unclear if owner Jeff Bezos is willing to sell.

The San Francisco Chronicle and Sacramento’s KCRA-TV are partnering. The Hearst-owned media outlets are creating a new video team in the Chronicle newsroom, the paper writes.

EVENTS

January 14 — The Bay Agenda: The Future of Press Freedom. KALW, the San Francisco Press Club and SPJ NorCal are cosponsoring a panel in San Francisco about the future of journalism in the second Trump administration.

January 16 — State of Journalism with Spencer Michels, NPR and KQED Reporter. The Oakland Rotary Club is putting on a wide-ranging lunchtime discussion about the media business.

JOBS

SFGATE is hunting for a Part-Time Homepage Editor ($35-36,000), a Breaking News Editor ($90-95,000), a News Reporter ($73-75,000), and a Senior California Politics Reporter ($80-85,000). The San Francisco Standard is hiring an Art Director, Editorial ($90-150,000), a Deputy Politics Editor ($90-140,000), and a Social Media Editor ($75-110,000).

KRON4 is hiring a Streaming/Weekend Executive Producer ($90,000) and a Sports Director ($110,000). KTVU FOX 2 is hiring a Senior Sports Producer ($110-118,000). KQED is looking for an On-Call Producer ($39-56/hour).

The Information is hiring a Reporter, SpaceX and Tesla, a Reporter, Weekend Section, and a Reporter, Tech Deals (all $80-160,000). TechCrunch is looking for an Editorial Operations Coordinator ($56-117,000).

This month’s Scoop was written by Rob Price and edited by Dan Rosenheim. Interested in sponsoring a future edition? Get in touch at board@sfpressclub.org