![]() | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guidelines for products and services .(July 2022) |
![]() The July 11, 2012 issue of Metro | |
Type | Alternative weekly |
---|---|
Format | Tabloid |
Owner(s) | Metro Newspapers |
Editor-in-chief | Dan Pulcrano |
Founded | 1985 |
Headquarters | 380 South First Street San Jose, California, United States |
Circulation | 50,000 [1] |
Sister newspapers | Santa Cruz Weekly, North Bay Bohemian |
ISSN | 0882-4290 |
OCLC number | 11831028 |
Website | metroactive |
Metro is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California, based Metro Newspapers. Also known as Metro Silicon Valley, as well as Metroactive online, the paper serves the greater Silicon Valley area. In addition to print form, Metro can be downloaded in PDF format for free from the publisher's website. [2] Metro also keeps tabs on local politics and the "chattering" class of San Jose through its weekly column, The Fly.
The newspaper has been published since 1985 and is one of the remaining owner-operated publications in the alternative press. Its principal distribution area encompasses the cities of San Jose, Los Gatos, Campbell, Saratoga, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Milpitas, Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto.
Metro is largely read for its coverage of the San Jose region's culture and entertainment scene. It publishes an exhaustive arts section, which includes calendar listings, music reviews, critical coverage of the performing and visual arts, as well as movie reviews and information. The newspaper has employed well-regarded film critic Richard von Busack since 1985. Steve Palopoli edited the publication from March 2005 until December 2008 and currently edits Good Times.
In 1986, Metro published the last interview with Don Hoefler, the man credited with naming Silicon Valley. [3] Metro has scooped the daily press on a number of major stories, including the office romance [4] of San Jose Mayor Ron Gonzales in 2000 [5] and the Santa Clara County Grand Jury's plans to indict Gonzales in June 2006.
In 1996, Metro's "Public Eye" column scooped Apple's December 20 announcement of a deal between Steve Jobs' NeXT Inc. and Apple Inc. that led to Jobs' return to Apple. [6]
In 2007, Metro and its sister publication North Bay Bohemian prompted Sen. Dianne Feinstein's resignation from the U.S. Senate's Military Construction Appropriations subcommittee after the two papers published an exposé by Peter Byrne documenting Feinstein's conflicts of interest related to husband Richard C. Blum's ownership interest in two major defense contractors, firms that received billions of dollars in contracts for military construction projects that were approved during Feinstein's tenure on the subcommittee. [7] [8] [9]
In 2012, Metro published a series of articles on Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors chair George Shirakawa, Jr., who had failed to file legally required campaign disclosure statements and had not turned in receipts for 175 taxpayer-underwritten meal charges. [10] The disclosures resulted in an investigation by the Fair Political Practices Commission and the Santa Clara County District Attorney's office. Shirakawa pleaded guilty on March 1, 2013, to five felonies and seven misdemeanors and resigned his office. Assistant District Attorney Karyn Sinunu Towery credited Metro's reports with prompting the criminal investigation at the press conference announcing the plea and resignation. [11] The House Committee on Ethics investigated Rep. Mike Honda following revelations in Metro that contributors were receiving favors from the congressman's office. [12]
The newspaper has helped launch the careers of several notable writers, including British television journalist Louis Theroux, author Jonathan Vankin, author and educator Gordon Young (Journalist), Vietnamese-American author Andrew Pham, Obama administration education advisor Hal Plotkin, News Director of Vice News Michael Learmonth, and film producer Zack Stentz [13] It also published the writings of Michelle Goldberg, six-word memoirist Larry Smith and Dave Eggers before they became published authors. It was also one of the first newspapers to publish Matt Groening's Life in Hell long before he created The Simpsons. [14]
In 1986, Metro executive editor Dan Pulcrano co-founded with Ray Rodriguez the San Jose Downtown Association [15] and led the effort to start Music in the Park, a free public music festival that lasted until 2011 and staged performances by such groups as Neon Trees, Camper, Billy Preston, the BoDeans, Tower of Power and the Tubes.[ citation needed ]
The San Jose Jazz Society was started by Metro jazz writer Sammy Cohen and headquartered in Metro's office. The outgrowth was the annual San Jose Jazz Festival. [16]
During the 1990s, Metro purchased community newspapers from companies such as the Tribune Company and established Silicon Valley Community Newspapers, which it sold in 2001.
Metro was the first to call for a Sunshine Ordinance during the 1998 mayor's race. An ordinance was passed in 2009. [17]
In explaining the newspaper's mission on its 20th anniversary, executive editor Pulcrano said, "We have championed independent businesses and small theaters in an effort to help the valley establish its own cultural identity. We have pushed for preservation of historic buildings and agricultural lands that represent the valley's heritage and soul. And we have promoted sensible, pedestrian-oriented development that gets people out of their cars so they can get to know one another. A newspaper at its best should be a community-builder." [18]
In 2012, Metro sponsored the Silicon Valley Sound Experience, a multi-venue music festival, which led to the establishment of Creative Convergence Silicon Valley, or C2SV, the following year. The 2013 event included performances by Iggy and The Stooges and a three-day technology conference with appearances by Steve Wozniak, Nolan Bushnell and John McAfee. [19] The 2015 C2SV brought camera phone inventor Philippe Kahn to the stage of the California Theatre. [20]
Metro has received several awards [21] for its work, including:
Metro was an early participant in the online publishing revolution, launching the Livewire online service in 1993, one of the first online efforts by a non-daily newspaper publisher. The service offered free email accounts, online commerce, chats, posting forums and online articles.
Virtual Valley, a similar service with an emphasis on covering Silicon Valley communities, was launched the following year and helped put the city governments of San Jose, Milpitas and Los Gatos online. Also in 1994, Metro established Boulevards, a network of city guides that pre-dated Citysearch and Microsoft's short-lived "Sidewalk" service.
In 1995, Metro launched the online version of the newspaper under the brand Metroactive.[ citation needed ]
The Mercury News is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidiary of Media News Group which in turn is controlled by Alden Global Capital, a vulture fund. As of March 2013, it was the fifth largest daily newspaper in the United States, with a daily circulation of 611,194. As of 2018, the paper has a circulation of 324,500 daily and 415,200 on Sundays. As of 2021, this further declined. The Bay Area News Group no longer reports its circulation, but rather "readership". For 2021, they reported a "readership" of 312,700 adults daily.
Ronald R. Gonzales is an American politician and member of the Democratic Party, who served as the 63rd Mayor of San Jose, California. Gonzales was the first Hispanic to serve as Mayor of San Jose since 1845.
Metro Newspapers, now known as Weeklys, is an American newspaper company based in San Jose, California.
The Pacific Sun is a free distribution weekly newspaper published in Marin County, just north of San Francisco in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is the longest running alternative weekly in the nation and is published on Wednesdays. Since October 2019, Daedalus Howell has been its editor.
Metro Santa Cruz, a free-circulation weekly newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California from 1994 to 2009, was renamed the Santa Cruz Weekly on May 6, 2009. The weekly continues, under its new name, to cover news, arts and entertainment in Santa Cruz County, a coastal area that includes Capitola, Aptos, Boulder Creek, Scotts Valley and Watsonville.
Dan Pulcrano is a journalist, editor, publisher and newspaper group owner in Northern California. He is CEO and executive editor of Metro Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley's alternative newsweekly, as well as its sister publications around the Bay Area; Good Times, the North Bay Bohemian and the Pacific Sun and East Bay Express. The group also publishes ten community newspapers, as well as magazines and related digital titles.
Santa Cruz Weekly was a free-circulation weekly newspaper published in Santa Cruz, California. It began publishing under its current name on May 6, 2009; publication ceased when operations were merged with the competing Good Times weekly on April 2, 2014, with the merged company continuing as Good Times. Formerly known as Metro Santa Cruz, the alternative weekly covered news, people, culture and entertainment in Santa Cruz County, a coastal area that includes Capitola, Aptos, Boulder Creek, Scotts Valley and Watsonville.
The North Bay Bohemian is a weekly newspaper published in the North Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States. The newspaper is distributed in Sonoma and Napa counties.
Laurie Smith was the 28th Sheriff of Santa Clara County, California, serving from 1998 until her early retirement in 2022 when under indictment for corruption. She was the first female County Sheriff in the history of the state.
Good Times is a free-circulation weekly newspaper based in Santa Cruz, California. Good Times is distributed in Santa Cruz County, a coastal area that includes Capitola, Rio del Mar, Aptos and Watsonville. It is owned by the Northern California–based Metro Newspapers. Dan Pulcrano is the CEO and executive editor.
The Morgan Hill Times is a weekly newspaper in Morgan Hill, California. It is Morgan Hill’s oldest continually operating business, tracing its history back to the Morgan Hill Sun, founded by George Edes on April 12, 1894.
The Gilroy Dispatch is an American weekly newspaper published in Gilroy, California.
The Hollister Free Lance is an American weekly newspaper published in Hollister, California and distributed in San Benito County, California.
SoFA is an arts, cultural, and entertainment district of Downtown San Jose, California. Home to numerous cultural institutions, art galleries, and theatre companies, including the Institute of Contemporary Art San José, the San José Opera, and the Silicon Valley Symphony, SoFA bills itself as "Silicon Valley's Creative District".
The Sunnyvale Sun is a weekly newspaper published on Fridays serving the city of Sunnyvale, CA and surrounding Santa Clara county. Its circulation is estimated to be 21,350.
The Saratoga News is a local paper covering the city of Saratoga, California, in Santa Clara county. Published weekly on Tuesday, it has an estimated circulation of 13,240.
The Almaden Resident is a newspaper serving the San Jose area. It is published weekly on Fridays and distributed in The Mercury News.
Frances L. Dinkelspiel is an American journalist, author and founder of the local news website Berkeleyside. She is the author of Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California and Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession, and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California.
Pete Carey is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Carey worked at the Mercury News California from 1967 to 2016 as a projects reporter and investigative correspondent, covering the defense industry, the rise of Silicon Valley, the financial affairs of Ferdinand Marcos and other topics.
WORKS/San José is a nonprofit, member-run art space, located in the SoFA district of San Jose, California. It was founded in 1977 by community members.