Overview

SF Weekly is San Francisco's smartest publication. That's because we take journalism seriously, but not so seriously that we let ourselves be guided by an agenda. In fact, we cherish our political independence: We've taken on the powerful unions that helped elect the leftist majority on the Board of Supervisors and the downtown business interests that have financed the campaigns of Mayor Gavin Newsom.

Over the past decade, we've earned dozens of regional and national journalism awards. In 2002, SF Weekly won a prestigious George K. Polk award – just a notch below a Pulitzer – for its investigative series "Fallout," which documented the U.S. Navy's remarkably careless handling of nuclear waste at the Hunters Point Shipyard. Last year, the Association of Alternative Newseeklies named "Snitch," our heartbreaking feature about one woman's decision to cooperate with police in a murder case in the projects, the best long-form news story in the country.

Just because we're serious about journalism doesn't mean we don't have a sense of humor. Our bar-scene column, Bouncer, took first place in the humor category for publications with a circulation of more than 100,000 from the National Society of Newspaper Columnists in 2009.

Add to our array of public-interest stories and humor columns a comprehensive entertainment guide and you'll see why SF Weekly has acquired a loyal readership of active, urban professionals, an audience as diverse as the city we cover.