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History of The Bay Citizen

The news industry is in a period of immense flux. Over the past five years, the San Francisco Bay Area, mirroring national trends, has experienced a precipitous decline in professional newsroom staff and in original reporting of civic and cultural news.

Concerned about the negative impact of this decline on the community, in early 2009 local philanthropist Warren Hellman convened an advisory committee to examine the issue and offer possible solutions. In January 2010, after many months of research and planning, and with a generous $5 million contribution from the Hellman Family Foundation, The Bay Citizen (first known as the Bay Area News Project) was founded.

In January of that year, The Bay Citizen’s board of directors hired Lisa Frazier, formerly the head of McKinsey & Company’s West Coast Media and Entertainment practice, as President and CEO. Ms. Frazier had led the work of the advisory committee throughout 2009 resulting in the formation of The Bay Citizen. With Ms. Frazier’s leadership, The Bay Citizen formed collaborations with leading journalism institutions including The New York Times, the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, and KGO Radio. She recruited an award-winning newsroom headed by Industry Standard veteran Jonathan Weber, as well as a cutting-edge technology team under Chief Technology Officer Brian Kelley.

On May 26, 2010, The Bay Citizen launched its online content on www.baycitizen.org. On June 4, 2010, The Bay Citizen’s newsroom began producing the articles featured in the two-page Bay Area Report in The New York Times’ print editions, which are delivered to over 61,000 Bay Area New York Times subscribers on Fridays and Sundays.

Since launch our reach has continued to grow, and our coverage of stories that are otherwise going untold has driven our tremendous growth. A few examples:

Our veteran health investigation, “After Service, Veteran Deaths Surge,” was noted in an NPR Morning Edition interview with U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric Shinseki.
Reporting on the timeline leading up to the San Bruno pipeline explosion has fundamentally shaped public and regulatory reaction to the incident.
Our updated and popular Bike Accident Tracker shows the most dangerous spots for bikers in the Bay Area.