I've read through the other reviews, and will say that I expected the PD to get an overall 3 or 4…read morestars on Yelp. Here's my thinking: 1) ++ Local writers provide a lot of the content, and seem to work pretty darned hard to capture interesting stories. Somebody's got to cover County Fairs, local government and a fair amount of sports; and they do it in a professional manner. True, it does seem at times they start with an opinion and the tune will always be the same; but that is also a fact of life with most national and local papers. Everybody has an owner and an editor. 2) - + They can get caught in their "formula" of just rehashing old stories. I could write the local government budget stories by simply changing the dates; and tell you that this city council will get a good story, and the county will get a sucky story. But, they try, and local papers' budgets don't provide enough staff to assign a reporter full time like they used to do. The IJ still has an office in the Marin Civic Center, but Sonoma County hasn't had the Chron and PD desks for quite some time. 3) - - At times, the PD does not seem to listen and respond to readers. Comments via email to the editor about having to "log in" to an account just to read the online comments were just flat ignored. Maybe I should have written to somebody less busy, but did not know where else to go. Why does somebody have to login just to read anothers' comments? The posters are sometimes way out of line, but still howl that some comments (must have been even worse than their "normal") were deleted. 4) + + The outreach for more diversity on the editorial board and inclusion of more cultural happenings throughout the whole county is a huge plus. This only happens with local ownership and jouralists that care. It's a better "paper" for sure (getting over the website sucky thing here). Local sports is getting much better coverage for women and girls events. 5) + + Fresher content is delivered in more "quickie" formats that is sometimes valuable. Keep the pot blog as it's the same old same old over and over; but then the Bite Club is just flat out good and tipping me off to food finds, and the writer knows her stuff.

I would give them zero stars if I could…read more I signed up for the special offer of six months for $1, and everything was fine at first. Then I suddenly got blocked by their system. I spent days working with their online support, exchanging at least 10 emails trying to resolve the issue. Despite all of that, they were never able to fix it. Their system kept telling me I wasn't subscribed, and when I tried to reset my password, I never received the password reset emails. The problem was clearly on their end, not mine. Customer service eventually offered me a partial refund, so I assumed the issue would finally be resolved. When the credit never appeared, I called to follow up and was told the refund had been denied. I paid for a subscription I couldn't even use because of their technology problems, and they refused to make it right. Customer service is a joke. With newspapers struggling to keep subscribers, you'd think they'd value someone who was actually willing to pay for a subscription--especially at today's prices. Instead, they hid behind a broken system and failed to stand behind their own service. They've lost a customer for life.

The North Bay Bohemian has experienced a decline in quality. Maybe it was when they prematurely…read moredeclared Hillary Clinton victor in the presidential race. They no longer do CD reviews (or rarely)... and pretty much, the only useful section is for current events, like knowing when the Suscol Intertribal Pow-Wow, the Blessing of the Olives, or SoCo Vegfest is held, complete with admission prices&location. Their events calendar is valuable. They now treat winery&restaurant reviews as optional (because TripAdvisor, OpenTable&Yelp do it as well?) which is too bad, since they had their own distinct perspective. As far as free, local papers are concerned, Portland's Willamette Week is substantial&superior. I used to avidly read the North Bay Bohemian weekly. I made sure to get a copy. Now I'm indifferent.

I want to give a thumbs-up for the Bohemian. Its reviews of movies and films are funky and often…read moreoriginal, they are the only ones attempting some modest investigative journalism (recently about the almost $500,000 missing from the Petaluma city coffers and hidden somewhere within a construction company?), their Open Mic contributions reflect the community spirit, and even the letters to the editor are entertaining. Special issues (about wine, beer, Fall Lit, etc.) are always worth a leisurely read with a good strong cuppa. The Bohemian shouldn't be compared to the Press Democrat, which is run-of-the-mill predictable, homespun (if you like that kind of gossipy familiarity and name dropping), and just a pale shadow of a copy of the NY Times. And the Bohemian is free. It's worth supporting, this lovable oddity.

I enjoy the articles and best of addition. They are a good source on who to do business with in the…read moreNorth Bay. I am new to the area and find it very informing and like the E addition on the WEB.

I have worked with the NorthBay Biz Magazine on several projects and they always assisted me in…read moreevery aspect of advertising. They helped me with ad creation and the campaigns we ran were a great success.

I was looking for news about Sonoma West Medical Center and this newspaper came up on the search…read morefeed, similar names. I read the one review of this paper here on Yelp the (one that was not recommended--couldn't help myself) and then continued looking up info about Sonoma West Medical Center as the two are apparently not related entities. I did read articles on the same billing issue about the laboratory in both the Sonoma West Times and The Press Democrat. I have to agree with the previous review of the Times--the writing is so-so, more a community newsletter in all ways except for the article about the medical center's laboratory. There it really does show a lack of professional journalism. The PD was factual but not accusing and actually quoted people involved, the Times was full of accusations but not substantiated, not professionally written with a neutral bias as all newspapers are supposed to try to attain. I'd recommend the Sonoma West Times for community event info based on some of the articles in the paper, definitely not a good source of news though. I know that a paper is not responsible for the comments that are written by readers, but, wow, some of the comments were not appropriate and way too political.

The newspaper does not check it's sources before printing materials that could be damaging or…read morehurtful to local businesses and individuals. Recently it published a headline story about a local tiny hospital that stated the hospital was part of an insurance fraud scheme with absolutely nothing cited indicating the newspaper had obtained any information from either the hospital or the insurance company. They implied that a court case was pending though there was no such thing. The Sonoma West Times also tends to cater towards a small group of wealthy individuals, vocal and ruthless in their intent on closing this district hospital that serves the area's poor and homeless. These individuals post items in the newspaper's opinion pages or blogs that are so incredible as to make one wonder if the newspaper actually has an editor. To wit: the newspaper allowed posting of an anonymous letter to the editor urging everyone to come to the hospital's next board meeting--it stated that the board was going to create a new property tax by vote at that meeting! Basic 6th grade social studies teaches that taxes cannot be voted in by a hospital board--or any entity! They must be voted upon by the public and passed with a majority. The editor of the paper knew this but still allowed the post to print. The mob that showed up disrupted the board meeting so badly that it had to be adjourned. The Sonoma West Times states in it's opinion and online blog instructions that no one may knowingly malign nor spread false or malicious information, but the newspaper has never enforced this--they appear to be encouraging the exact opposite by their own actions and articles. This tactic must be selling papers but If it were possible to rate them in negative integers I would. The district hospital was lauded in other newspapers as a hero in the recent Tubbs Lane Wildfire yet they struggle to stay open amidst attack by a newsprint bully. I used to be a faithful reader but now I would not recommend this rag for anything but birdcage liner.

Excellent local paper with interesting and informative articles!…read moreWitty editorial insight and gorgeous photos! Cutest dog (next to mine of course) on the planet in every issue!!

So when you drive into downtown Kenwood to visit the small food market or Ty Caton - Muscardini…read morewine tasting, get a free copy of the Kenwood Press from the newspaper box. It's our weekly "rag sheet" It features local news and gossip only. The news territory extends all the way down to Glen Ellen (4 miles away). For a hoot read the police blotter weekly report (Page 2) . You may wet your pants while laughing at what we locals consider a "crime" that requires police intervention. {Those darn kids down the street are playing their music too loud again!}

Very professional and kind. I Used them for a change of name posting which is required by the…read morecourt. They got the job done.

When modifying your business ownership, one has to file an updated Fictitious Business Name (FBN)…read moreStatement in Sonoma County advertise it for 4 consecutive weeks. The County gave me several newspapers to contact for that purpose that included the Press Democrat, a couple of others and The Community Voice. Contacting the PD was problematic for this purpose but quite easy for The Community Voice. A woman answered the phone took the info and credit card emailed whatever else and it was done. I thought it was quick and easy and the charge of $40+ is what was expected. It wasn't Hi-Tech and I couldn't do it on my cell phone but was quite satisfactory. I automatically received a certificate of advertising from them today after the 4 week period without having to follow-up. Good ole fashion service. Thanks! JL