Since it's not our habit to block off Hwy 1 to the north and south on a regular basis to hold a…read moretown-wide kegger, how else are we supposed to find out what the kelp is going on in this little coastal string of hills, valleys and beaches? The P-town T-bune that's how! Seriously, this is one of the finest (and only) local newspapers in the Bay Area that is 100% focused on the local scene. And even though it is owned by a large Colorado-based newspaper group, its editorial heart is strictly small town and quintessentially coastside. Like most people, I scan the front page and then go straight to the Letters to the Editor section which consistently presents an engaging selection of amusing, infuriating, and occasionally informative letters from real local people, always signed with their neighborhood appellation (e.g., Rockaway Beach, Linda Mar, Sharp Park, etc.). Pacifica is, after all, a collection of villages aka districts, that joined together 50 years ago and whose residents today are trying to figure out how to get along, balance open space and development, and find that seemingly elusive "town center". It's also a wonderful place to live. So, if you'd like to get the skinny on this cool surf town nestled between Devil's Slide and the San Andreas Fault, check out the Pacifica Tribune.

As beautiful as Pacifica is, I felt to need to add some art depicting the coastline attractions in…read morePacifica. As far as the Tribune goes, it is my source for local politics and events. I also love Jean Bartlett's contributions. She adds style and local flavor with her love of Pacifica.

I was so thrilled to get the June edition of Marin Magazine in the mail the other day! During these…read morestrange times, not only did I not expect to get the magazine at all, but to get such a wonderful edition was a special treat. The beautifully written article by Pete Gauvin, "Water Therapy," was the perfect addition to this month's magazine, giving us readers all kinds of ideas and inspiration for getting out on the water safely and happily. Thank you Marin Magazine for continuing to bring us such a great magazine!

Appreciate that it is free and the covers are artfully done reminding me how lucky I am to live…read morehere. Good effort to highlight what is going on 'now' each month. Always entertaining interviews with the 'famous' Marin locals on the back page. What's missing? Balanced, in-depth reporting. I'm already walking around with rose-colored glasses since I know how fortunate I am to be here. But it's not perfect, so use some of those glossy, fun-filled pages to give us more of the real back story. Then I'll consider a couple more stars.

I read a wide variety of newspapers, magazines, and on line content, and am often reminded of an…read moreexchange between Dr. Bashir and Garak in Star Trek: DS9: Of all the stories you told me, which ones were true and which ones weren't?" "My dear Doctor, they're all true." "Even the lies?" "Especially the lies." In its broadsheet edition day, the Berkeley Daily Planet was both a great read and infuriating. I did not agree at all with their Israel, Marine Recruiting Office, and other "progressive" stances, and often found myself flinging down the paper in disgust. Yet, I couldn't wait to pick up the paper again and read some more, especially Becky O'Malley's "holy" opinions and the best letters section outside of the Anderson Valley Advertiser. Broad and sometimes contentious political debate within the Fourth Estate can be free speech at its best. "To hold a pen is to be at war" - Voltaire Unfortunately, thanks to narrow special interest boycott (of which one of the leaders has his say below), the economy, and some payroll service fraud thrown in, the Berkeley Daily Plant closed up their print edition and went on line. So image my delight when I recently picked up a Copy Mat "newsletter" edition of the Daily Planet. "Great Caesar's Ghost!" - Perry White I devoured the issue and was left wanting for more. So whether I agree with the content or not, I hope that the Daily Planet is on the way back, and mindful of the Joseph Pulitzer quote that "Newspapers should have no friends"

They are not beholden to donors. They have no agenda beyond community service. You will get the…read moreunvarnished truth about Berkeley here. You'll see the love for the community as soon as you dive in. We are so lucky to have this kind of independent journalism here.

To echo the sentiments of Nish, I feel a tad biased as well since Hyphen has kindly allowed me to…read morehelp volunteer for them, but I enjoyed their content way before I plucked up the courage to ask to help out. It's nice to see a magazine run by a group of volunteers that is focused on covering interesting facts, news, and events - and not so hung up on beating the "We're ASIAN AMERICAN, feel our PAIN" issue to death. They sponsor cool events, encourage writers, and provide fun tidbits. Ever wonder what an ear picker is? Read Hyphen and find out. :)

i knew people involved with hyphen since it's inception in 2003, and have volunteered* with them…read moreoff an on since 2005, and five stars do they deserve! hyphen is all about the culture of asian america, grassroots-style. while they focus on the magazine, they also host awesome events like mr. hyphen! i think the best description of it is one they wrote themselves: "Like its readers, Hyphen is many things--cool librarian, shy musician, dorky hipster, cute techie. Like Asian America, its interests are varied--politics, art, health, music. Much like the hyphen connects words and concepts, Hyphen magazine connects readers with Asian America as it happens." word y'all! * hyphen is COMPLETELY volunteer run!

Good news world! The editor finally paid me my wages. Alleluia!…read more So, all is set right as far as getting compensated is concerned. I hope this little paper endures because it is the among the few papers covering issues and concerns of the neighborhood. With the Mission Dispatch on "vacation" since December of 2009, due to the economic recession, the Mission District and surrounding areas has few voices for the community. And, as far as I can see, mainstream media does not provide much in local news, especially at the neighborhood or grass roots level. Also, El Reportero features news that impacts the entire Bay Area. It's coverage is wide. And, I noticed that it does make an effort to present news that is often missed or ignored by mainstream sources. For example see this recent article... http://www.elreporterosf.com/editions/?q=node/4645 I still believe papers like El Reportero have lots of potential and I hope they endure and continue reaching out to the community.

What Jonathan didn't say is that he was asked to either pick up the check or accept payment via…read morePaypal, which was immediately sent to him immediately after he was owed the money. However, he said he couldn't accept Paypal, and then it took him a long time to pick up the check. He went on his own to cause embarrassment and write on Yelp that he didn't get paid. Which was false! I am glad he went on to correct the record, but his negative comments is still there online. El Reportero is really a paper that prints real news that does not entertains or distracts, but rather informs and denounces government corruption as part of its coverage. www.elreporteroSF.com

Good newspaper for the bay area community. Well go around information and advertisements.read more

The Pleasanton Weekly is a pro-real-estate-development freebie that purports to serve the local…read morecommunity, but which really does not. The competing paper -The Independent, provides much more balanced reporting of and perspective on local events. The only reason to have the PW sent to your home is so that you will have the pleasure of throwing it in the trash unread - at the paper's expense.

Not a bad paper, and it is free. Very local and pretty much only about Pleasanton; produced once a…read moreweek. Wish they had less bias or more viewpoints of both sides.

The UCSF Synapse is an student run newspaper by all the UCSF students in the different programs…read morethere. It is also an informative paper that gives me the pulse of the student community and what events are going on in the different UCSF campuses. It is also an good arena for local advertisers too. For myself personally, I have been writing with them for the past 2 years on a range of topics from Sports, Politics, movies, and concert. My latest entry is at http://www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2007/Sep/20/baseball.html My sis also does an comic strip about our family dogs. http://www.ucsf.edu/synapse/articles/2007/Sep/20/wendylucy.html check out the rest of the weekly paper at http://www.ucsf.edu/synapse

As a current volunteer and prospective and future UCSF student, I read this paper fairly often. The…read morearticles are always current, insightful and entertaining. There is always a funny article and then the very informative ones. Most articles are written by students from the college of pharmacy so if you're a prospective pharmacy student, you'll enjoy this paper even more. The paper gets minus one star for having +1 page of ads when the entire paper is usually only 6-8 pages front/back. Overall, an enjoyable read during your free time.