San Francisco Examiner

What San Francisco Examiner does

The San Francisco Examiner is a privately held daily newspaper founded in 1863 and headquartered at 465 California Street in San Francisco. It serves the San Francisco Bay Area—specifically San Francisco and San Mateo counties, with reach into Alameda, Marin, and Santa Clara counties—producing local journalism across News (Politics, Business, Technology, Climate, Urban Development, Transit, Public Health, Education, Community), Sports (Giants, Warriors, 49ers, college and prep), and Culture sections. The publication operates a multi-channel distribution model spanning a main website (sfexaminer.com), a digital e-edition replica, daily email newsletters delivered via Constant Contact, and a physical print edition distributed to subscribers and Bay Area newsstands. Its website is built on the BLOX Content Management System from BLOX Digital (TownNews), a third-party publishing platform common among U.S. local newspapers.

The Examiner generates revenue through two primary streams: recurring subscription services (digital, print, and combined tiers with monthly automatic-renewal billing via major credit cards) and advertising (display, sponsored content, and partner sections on web and in print). Its go-to-market is direct-to-consumer for readership and direct sales for advertising, including a legal-advertising and DBA filing service that leverages the publication's status as a paper of record. It maintains content cross-promotion partnerships with two sister publications, Nob Hill Gazette (regional lifestyle) and SFWeekly (alternative weekly), both appearing as subsidiaries or partner brands within the Examiner network. There is no evidence of venture capital, institutional ownership, or public listing; the paper appears to be locally and independently owned.

Operational scope is domestic and geographically concentrated: a single San Francisco headquarters, a newsroom staff in the 251–500 employee range, and no international footprint or non-U.S. distribution. The publication maintains an active social presence on Facebook, Twitter/X, Instagram, Bluesky, and LinkedIn, plus a careers page and a dedicated homes/real-estate search portal (homes.sfexaminer.com), indicating modest vertical-adjacent commercial extensions beyond core journalism.

Name

San Francisco Examiner

Legal name

San Francisco Examiner

Website

https://sfexaminer.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1912

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Short description

The San Francisco Examiner is a privately held daily newspaper founded in 1863, covering San Francisco and the broader Bay Area with local news, sports, politics, and culture via web, e-edition, newsletters, and print, funded by subscriptions and advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Local Newspaper Publishing

NAICS

Newspaper Publishers (51311)

SIC

Newspapers: Publishing Or Publishing & Printing (2711)

akta.pro primary industry

Local & Regional Newspapers (Print & Digital) (MPAJADAB)

Keywords

• Local daily newspaper
• News subscription service
• Print journalism
• Bay Area news
• Digital news media

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Subscription Services: The San Francisco Examiner generates revenue through paid subscriptions for digital and print content, including e-edition access.
2. Advertising: The publication offers advertising opportunities on its website and in print editions, including display ads, sponsored content, and partner sections.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

The San Francisco Examiner publishes a daily newspaper and operates a digital news platform serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It delivers local news, sports, weather, culture, opinion, and classified advertising content across print, web (sfexaminer.com), e-edition, and email newsletter channels. Distribution covers San Francisco, San Mateo, Alameda, Marin, and Santa Clara counties.

Product overview

San Francisco Examiner is a traditional news publication offering local journalism across multiple sections including News (Business, Climate, Community, Education, Politics, Public Health, Technology, The City, Transit, Urban Development), Sports, Culture, and Weather. The publication provides content through its main website, e-edition digital newspaper format, newsletters, and community forums. No distinct technology products, SaaS offerings, or digital platforms are offered beyond standard newspaper publishing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• e-Edition: Electronic digital edition of the newspaper
• Word on the Street
• The Inspiring Women of San Francisco

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Nob Hill GazetteminorOthersThe San Francisco Examiner maintains a partnership with Nob Hill Gazette, a related publication, with cross-linked content and shared coverage of San Francisco society and culture.
• SFWeeklyminorOthersSF Weekly is listed as a partner publication, sharing content and cross-promotion with the San Francisco Examiner network.
• BLOX DigitalcoreTechnology or IntegrationThe San Francisco Examiner uses BLOX Content Management System (CMS) from BLOX Digital for its website and content management operations.
• TownNews (BLOX)coreTechnology or IntegrationThe website infrastructure is powered by TownNews/BLOX platform, providing the technical foundation for the sfexaminer.com website.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• San Francisco Chronicle: The dominant paid daily newspaper in the San Francisco market, owned by Hearst. Directly competes with the Examiner for the same Bay Area readers and advertisers across print, digital, and e-edition channels.
• The Mercury News: Major daily newspaper serving the San Jose and broader Silicon Valley Bay Area, owned by Digital First Media. Competes for the same Santa Clara County readership and tech-sector advertising dollars the Examiner targets.
• Marin Independent Journal: Local daily newspaper covering Marin County, one of the Bay Area counties the Examiner explicitly serves. Overlaps directly on Marin County readership and hyperlocal advertising inventory.
• East Bay Times: Daily newspaper covering the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, owned by Digital First Media. Competes with the Examiner for Bay Area readers and overlapping regional advertising budgets.

Broad incumbents

• Los Angeles Times: California's largest statewide newspaper and a major national daily. Provides overlapping Bay Area coverage and competes with the Examiner on California political and policy journalism, though at much greater scale.
• The New York Times: National newspaper with growing digital subscription business and increasing Bay Area tech/politics coverage. Competes for high-end digital subscribers and premium national advertisers active in the SF market.
• Gannett: Largest U.S. newspaper chain (USA Today network and hundreds of local titles). Operates multiple Bay Area-adjacent papers, providing direct competition in digital ad networks, programmatic, and national subscription bundles.

Emerging players

• Patch: Hyperlocal digital news network with SF neighborhood editions. Competes for classified, real estate, and local SMB advertising in the same geographies the Examiner covers.
• Hoodline: Digital-first hyperlocal news and data outlet focused on San Francisco neighborhoods. Competes with the Examiner for local advertising dollars and reader attention via a tech-driven, mobile-first product targeting younger SF residents.
• SFist: Long-running SF-focused digital blog covering news, food, and culture. Targets a similar Bay Area urban reader demographic with a lighter, faster digital product that competes for the Examiner's lifestyle/culture audience.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/sfexaminer
• Facebookfacebook.com/sfexaminer
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/17016
• Instagraminstagram.com/sfexaminer

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about San Francisco Examiner