Media in the San Francisco Bay Area
James King of William began publishing the "Daily Evening Bulletin" in San Francisco in October, 1855 and built it into the highest circulation paper in the city. He criticized a city supervisor named James P. Casey, who, on the afternoon of the story about him, ran in the paper, shot and mortally wounded King. Casey was lynched by the early vigilante committee. The "Morning Call" was established and began publishing in December 1856, and later merged with the "Bulletin" to become the long-running "Call-Bulletin". The "San Francisco Chronicle" debuted in June, 1865 as the "Dramatic Chronicle", founded by Charles and M.H. de Young aged 19 and 17.
San Francisco Independent
The following August, the Hearst Corporation, owners of the "San Francisco Examiner" and the largest private publishers in the world, announced their purchase of the morning daily "San Francisco Chronicle". They also claimed the "San Francisco Examiner" was not a viable business operation and planned to shut it down. "The Independent" led an effort to keep the "Examiner" open, and ultimately the U.S. Department of Justice under Attorney General Janet Reno forced the Hearst’s to sell the "SF Examiner" to the Fang family in 2000.