Bay Area News Group
Bay Area News Group (BANG) is the largest publisher of daily and weekly newspapers in the San Francisco Bay Area, including its flagship The Mercury News. A subsidiary of the Denver-based MediaNews Group,[2] its corporate headquarters is in San Ramon, California, and publication offices in San Jose and Walnut Creek, although the Walnut Creek location was scheduled to be closed under a 2011 restructuring.[3] Previously known as ANG (Alameda News Group), the name changed to Bay Area News Group in 2006 after the MediaNews Group bought The Mercury News and Contra Costa Times from McClatchy Co.[4] Most production aspects have now moved to The Mercury News facilities in San Jose, California.
Private | |
Industry | Media |
Founded | 2006 |
Headquarters | San Ramon, California, U.S.[1] |
Products | Newspaper Online newspaper |
Owner | MediaNews Group |
Website | info |
Print
The structure allows the company to share stories between its various newspapers, meaning one reporter can get the story for all the publications.
BANG publishes three daily newspapers:[5]
BANG's newspapers collectively cover the East Bay, South Bay, Peninsula, and Marin County. It has beat reporters covering San Jose and Oakland but none for San Francisco, where it cedes coverage here to the San Francisco Chronicle, its main competitor. On the other hand, the Chronicle doesn't cover the South Bay as BANG does via The Mercury News. BANG's only coverage in the North Bay is Marin County.
2011 restructuring
On August 23, 2011, the company announced the reorganization of 11 of its newspapers, with shuttering of all of its East Bay nameplates under two new publications as of November 2, 2011.[6] The planned merger and publication reorganization was modified in October 2011, when BANG decided to scrap plans to launch the East Bay Tribune and instead consolidate its East Bay newspapers under the Oakland Tribune name.[7]
- The Oakland Tribune, Alameda Times-Star, Hayward Daily Review, Fremont Argus and West County Times were scheduled to publish their last editions on November 1, 2011.[6] The following day, subscribers were to get copies of the new East Bay Tribune; instead the mastheads were made local editions of the Oakland Tribune.
- The Contra Costa Times, San Ramon Valley Times, East County Times, Tri-Valley Herald and San Joaquin Herald were scheduled to become the new The Times.[8]
- The San Mateo Times was scheduled to publish its last issue on November 1, 2011. As of November 2, 2011, subscribers were to get localized versions of the San Jose Mercury News.[6]
2016 restructuring
In March 2016, BANG announced it would further consolidate its newspapers (other than the Marin Independent Journal) down to two: The East Bay Times and The Mercury News, eliminating the Oakland Tribune and the other papers.[9]
References
- "Bay Area News Group - Overview". Archived from the original on September 13, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2012.
- "Overview". Bay Area News Group. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- "Bay Area News Group rebranding plan FAQ". Bay Area News Group. August 23, 2011. Archived from the original on October 8, 1012. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- Bill D'Agostino (April 26, 2006). "Sources: SJ Mercury sold to MediaNews". Palo Alto Weekly. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- "Bay Area News Group".
Our Products: The Mercury News, East Bay Times, Marin IJ
- George Avalos (August 23, 2011). "Bay Area News Group makes changes to East Bay papers". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- George Avalos (October 28, 2011). "Bay Area News Group announces it will retain East Bay mastheads". Oakland Tribune. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013.
- Bay Area News Group. "Area News Group announces rebranding plan". Contra Costa Times. Archived from the original on August 13, 2012. Retrieved August 24, 2011.
- Ben Trefny. "Interview: Why Bay Area News Group is shrinking". KALW. Retrieved April 4, 2016.