San Francisco Chronicle
The San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It was founded in 1865 as "The Daily Dramatic Chronicle" by teenage brothers Charles de Young and Michael H. de Young. The paper is currently owned by the Hearst Corporation, which bought it from the de Young family in 2000. It is the only major daily paper covering the city and county of San Francisco.
The Mercury News
The newspaper now known as the "Mercury News" began in 1851 or 1852. California legislators had just moved the state capital from San Jose to Vallejo, leading to the failure of San Jose's first two newspapers, the "Argus" and "State Journal". A group of three businessmen led by John C. Emerson bought the papers' presses to found the "San Jose Weekly Visitor". The "Weekly Visitor" began as a Whig paper but quickly switched its affiliation to the Democratic Party. It was renamed the "Santa Clara Register" in 1852. The following year, F. B. Murdoch took over the paper, merging it into the "San Jose Telegraph". W. A. Slocum assumed control of the "Telegraph" in 1860 and merged it with the "San Jose Mercury" or "Weekly Mercury" to become the "Telegraph and Mercury". William N. Slocum soon dropped "Telegraph" from the name. By this point, the "Mercury" was one of two newspapers publishing in San Jose.