The first edition of GIBBS was on the SF Chronicle's encroachment into the East Bay's minority community in search of readership. (See Newspaper Wars) One of the points we made was that the Chronicle may be bought by the Examiner, and if that should occur, the Chronicle that is now attempting to court the minority community, would certainly have a most difficult time developing trust and readership in the black community.

The reason for that difficulty would be that the Examiner has always been indifferent to the minority community, especially the black community. The Chronicle too has been harsh in its treatment of our community, but not as ruthless toward us as the Examiner has been. If the Chronicle is now controlled by the Examiner, they will care even less for our community, as their operations take on the corporate culture of its owners.

Therefore, in the light of this corporate takeover and soon to be cultural corporate makeover, the Oakland Tribune is sitting in a better position to recapture the market-share it has lost. This would require that they exploit the Internet lag present in the black and brown communities.  (See article on Minority Internet Use)

This East Bay edition may be an artifact of the past

What will become of the 10 staff persons on the SF Chronicle's East Bay staff? Although the new owners have said there will be no layoffs, it will not take them more than a year before staff cutbacks start occurring. And because the Examiner has never concerned itself about the African American community, the East Bay staff can look for their heads to roll first.

It will be interesting to see how all of this shakes out for the three major newspapers (Examiner, Chronicle, Tribune) and some of the smaller ones. Will the Hearst Corporation focus on San Francisco and attempt to rival the San Jose Mercury for Silicon Valley readership? That's where the money is and the readership with money. That's where advertisers want to be. We will stay tuned.[]

See Update