{"id":42668,"date":"2025-07-16T13:55:26","date_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:55:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=42668"},"modified":"2025-07-16T13:55:26","modified_gmt":"2025-07-16T20:55:26","slug":"local-reporters-live-pipe-dream-founding-worker-owned-news-outlet","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/16\/local-reporters-live-pipe-dream-founding-worker-owned-news-outlet\/","title":{"rendered":"Local reporters live \u2018pipe dream,\u2019 founding worker-owned news outlet"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sfexaminer.com\/users\/profile\/Keith_Menconi\">By Keith Menconi | Examiner staff writer<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Jul 14, 2025\u00a0Updated\u00a0Jul 15, 2025 (SFExaminer.com)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bloximages.chicago2.vip.townnews.com\/sfexaminer.com\/content\/tncms\/assets\/v3\/editorial\/7\/d1\/7d146310-3c2b-4e67-8c6d-3049749ec91b\/687584aa5e994.image.jpg?resize=400%2C267\" alt=\"co-founders of COYOTE media collective (copy)\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">The co-founders of COYOTE Media Collective posing for a portrait at Strawberry Creek Park in Berkeley. Pictured from left, front seated, is Soleil Ho and Daniel Lavery. Pictured back row from left is Estefany Gonzalez, Emma Silvers, Cecilia Lei, Reo Eveleth and Nuala Bishari.Craig Lee\/The Examiner<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Frustrated with the state of local news coverage in the Bay Area, a group of seasoned journalists \u2014 many of whom are likely familiar names to San Francisco news junkies \u2014 have banded together to create a newsroom that will operate on their own terms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWhat journalist has not wanted to launch their own newsroom?\u201d said Nuala Bishari, one of the 11 founding members of Coyote Media Collective, which was first announced June 16 and is expected to begin publication later this summer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt is really that pipe dream that people want to do, but then will anyone ever actually do it?\u201d&nbsp;she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Setting the publication apart from other Bay Area media outlets, the group bills itself as the region\u2019s \u201cfirst journalist-owned digital newsroom.\u201d Under the worker-owner structure, all founding members will share equal stakes in the company and will be compensated for their work at the same rate, according to the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coyote\u2019s launch also marks an attempt to revive the subversive style of the Bay Area\u2019s alternative weekly newspapers, known for offering irreverent perspectives, wry commentary, and thorough arts and culture coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Once a prominent feature in the region&#8217;s local media landscape, alt-weekly publications&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2021\/07\/13\/u-s-newsroom-employment-has-fallen-26-since-2008\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">struggled to make the transition into the online news era<\/a>. Many, including the Bay Guardian and SF Weekly \u2014 the latter of which is owned by The Examiner\u2019s parent company, Clint Reilly Communications \u2014 have&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kqed.org\/forum\/2010101885526\/a-eulogy-to-alt-weeklies-as-sf-weekly-stops-publishing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">either scaled back operations or closed their doors entirely<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Given the void these publications have left behind, \u201cI do think that there is that real need for an alt-weekly-style voice in the Bay Area,\u201d&nbsp;said Bishari, who formerly worked at SF Weekly herself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bishari, a longtime San Francisco journalist whose resume also includes a stint at The Examiner, wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle as an opinion columnist until recently. She said Coyote was born out of conversations with&nbsp;former Chronicle food critic Soleil Ho \u2014&nbsp;her colleague at the paper \u2014 and their mutual desire to create a newsroom more aligned with their values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In April, they both left the Chronicle and began working on the new project full time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the course of several months, the pair held conversations with other like-minded local journalists, Bishari said, and found that many shared their desire for a different kind of newsroom \u2014 one in which \u201cour voices are centered, where it&#8217;s not top-heavy corporate control, where we are able to pursue the stories that we think are really important and valuable in this moment.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These conversations drew in the nine other founding members of Coyote, a motley crew that together carry a wide-ranging skill set, including reporting, podcasting, filmmaking and, even, novel writing. Collectively, they have worked at just about every publication in the Bay Area, according to a press release from the group.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The name Coyote is a wily nod to the animal, a Bay Area native, and its frequent appearances in local history. In particular, the group says, they are referencing the sex-workers rights-advocacy organization COYOTE&nbsp;\u2014 which serves as an acronym for \u201cCall Off Your Old Tired Ethics\u201d \u2014&nbsp;founded in the 1970s San Francisco, as well as the Coyote trickster deity from the mythology of Native American peoples indigenous to Northern California.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the news outlet, their coverage will extend to the entire nine-county Bay Area, with offerings that will include news analysis, culture and arts writing, as well as narrative and investigative features.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Coyote also plans to maintain&nbsp;a curated Bay Area events calendar, a \u201cmissed connections\u201d board, and to produce live events \u2014 all part of the publication&#8217;s effort to provide offerings that balance &#8220;journalistic rigor and straight-up fun.&#8221;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As currently envisioned, most of Coyote\u2019s articles will be free, but the site will also have paid subscription tiers, each of which will unlock additional content and perks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Already, their funding efforts are off to an encouraging start. The group managed to surpass an $80,000 donation target just one week after&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/givebutter.com\/coyotemedia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the launch of a crowdfunding campaign<\/a>&nbsp;that accompanied the initial announcement of the organization in June. As of Monday, the total donation haul stood at over $120,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe response has just been incredible,\u201d Bishari said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, ramping up operations will take time. To begin with, Bishari said, none of Coyote\u2019s workers will have a full-time paid position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.poynter.org\/business-work\/2025\/worker-owned-news-publications-media-coops\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">worker-owner newsroom model<\/a>&nbsp;has been gaining traction elsewhere in the country as well in recent years. 2024 alone saw the launch of six such outlets, according to a report from the Poynter Institute journalism nonprofit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bishari argues this structure isn\u2019t just more equitable than the corporate ownership model, it also produces better coverage by empowering journalists to take a greater role in making editorial decisions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cHaving worker owners who are rooted here, who are experienced journalists in the Bay Area, who have our boots on the ground and are listening to our neighbors and our friends every single day about what they care about and what they&#8217;re interested in, feels like a really important value for us,\u201d Bishari said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Frustrated with the state of local news coverage in the Bay Area, a group of seasoned journalists \u2014 many of whom are likely familiar names to San Francisco news junkies \u2014 have banded together to create a newsroom that will operate on their own terms. \u201cWhat journalist has not wanted&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2025\/07\/16\/local-reporters-live-pipe-dream-founding-worker-owned-news-outlet\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42668"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42668"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42668\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":42672,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42668\/revisions\/42672"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42668"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42668"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42668"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}