The Bay Citizen to Provide News for The New York Times's Bay Area Pages Beginning Friday June 4, 2010

SAN FRANCISCO, June 2 /PRNewswire/ -- The Bay Citizen, a nonprofit, nonpartisan public media organization based in San Francisco, announced that it will provide branded local news content to The New York Times for its Bay Area pages beginning this Friday, June 4.

The New York Times's Bay Area section was launched in October 2009 and currently features editorial coverage written by The Times's San Francisco news bureau and other contributors.

The Bay Citizen and The Times announced a pending content collaboration on January 21, 2010.  Last Wednesday May 26, The Bay Citizen launched its website, www.baycitizen.org, featuring original enterprise reporting about the San Francisco Bay Area.

The Bay Citizen's newsroom of fourteen reporters and editors covers public policy, education, health and science, arts and culture, environment, crime, and business.  Editor in chief Jonathan Weber is a co-founder and former editor in chief of The Industry Standard and was a reporter and editor for the Los Angeles Times.  Other journalists recently hired by The Bay Citizen include Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Steve Fainaru, formerly of the Washington Post, and Jeanne Carstensen, former editor at the San Francisco Chronicle and Salon.com.

The regional Bay Area report, which appears on Fridays and Sundays in The Times's Bay Area editions as well as on NYTimes.com, is devoted to local news, policy, and culture and will continue to focus on issues of importance to the Bay Area community.

"Having local news coverage from The Bay Citizen will complement the national and global coverage that has made The Times a popular news provider in the Bay Area," said Bill Keller, executive editor of The Times. "Based on the quality of the initial news articles from The Bay Citizen's newsroom, I am confident it will serve our Bay Area readers with substantive, informative local journalism."

"We've received a very positive response to our reporting since the launch of our Web site last Wednesday," said Jonathan Weber, editor in chief. "We look forward to expanding the distribution of our news to The Times's large circulation base in the Bay Area, as well as to their online audience."

The Bay Citizen is funded by foundations, philanthropists, and individuals who are interested in funding professional civic journalism for the Bay Area. The New York Times will pay The Bay Citizen for its journalism as it does other news services whose work appears in the pages of the newspaper and on NYTimes.com.

About The Bay Citizen

The Bay Citizen is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization with the mission of enhancing civic and community news coverage in the Bay Area, stimulating innovation in journalism, and fostering civic engagement.  The professional news organization leverages broad collaborations and new digital technologies to provide Bay Area news that reflects the region's dynamic social and cultural diversity. Coverage includes public policy, education, the arts and cultural affairs, health and science, the environment, and more.  The Bay Citizen's Web site launched on May 26, 2010.  Starting June 4, 2010, the organization's news articles will also be printed in The New York Times's Bay Area report on Fridays and Sundays as well as on NYTimes.com. For more information, please visit www.baycitizen.org.

About The New York Times Company

The New York Times Company, a leading media company with 2009 revenues of $2.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

SOURCE The Bay Citizen