Dan Pulcrano

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Dan Pulcrano (born c. 1959)[1] is a journalist, editor, publisher and newspaper group owner in Northern California. He is CEO and executive editor of Metro Silicon Valley, Silicon Valley's alternative newsweekly, as well as its sister publications around the Bay Area; Good Times, the North Bay Bohemian and the Pacific Sun and East Bay Express. The group also publishes ten community newspapers, as well as magazines and related digital titles.[2][3][4]

Early life[edit]

Born in suburban New Jersey, where his parents were school teachers, Pulcrano entered the publishing field while still in junior high, when he produced an underground newspaper at the Wardlaw Country Day School in Plainfield. He was asked to leave the school as a result and attended public schools afterwards, graduating at 16 and joining the staff of the San Diego Reader. At age 19, he went to Los Angeles to help publisher Jay Levin launch the LA Weekly.[5]

Career[edit]

Weekly newspapers[edit]

After graduating from University of California at Santa Cruz, Pulcrano founded the Los Gatos Weekly in the Silicon Valley community of Los Gatos. Pulcrano served as publisher, editor and owner.[6] In 1990, it merged with the Times-Observer into the Los Gatos Weekly-Times.[7]

Three years after founding the Los Gatos Weekly, Pulcrano expanded his efforts into the greater Silicon Valley region with the launch of Metro Silicon Valley. Inspired by Levin's LA Weekly and the alt-weeklies that were then appearing in major American cities,[8] Metro offers political reporting as well as calendar listings, music reviews and critical coverage of the performing and visual arts, as well as movie reviews. Based in downtown San Jose, which had been in a state of decline for two decades, Metro championed arts, independent cinema, small theater and retail revitalization in the city's core. Metro's investigative journalism was responsible in 2013 for the prosecution and conviction of Santa Clara County Supervisor George Shirakawa Jr. on multiple felony corruption charges.[9] The newspaper also sparked state Fair Political Practices Commission and Grand Jury investigations of San Jose City Councilman Xavier Campos' campaign activity[10] and has reported over the past decade on the financial relationship between the nonprofit Working Partnerships USA and the South Bay Labor Council.[11][12] The investigative reports were followed by attacks posted to an anonymous attack web site[13] and on the day that Metro published an exposé on the use of monies raised for low income children's health care premiums to fund political campaigns,[14][15][16] at a press conference which highlighted hyperlinks from Metro's web site to an adult ad web site.[17][18]

Over the next decade, Pulcrano oversaw the purchase and startups of five more community weekly newspapers in Santa Clara County, including the Saratoga News, Cupertino Courier, Sunnyvale Sun, Willow Glen Resident and Campbell Reporter. In 1999, these newspapers and the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, were spun off as the Silicon Valley Community Newspapers group and sold in December 2002 to a Metro executive who sold them to Knight-Ridder in 2005, the year before the sale of its Bay Area newspapers to Dean Singleton's MediaNews Corp., now known as Digital First and controlled by Alden Global Capital.[19] In 1994, Pulcrano returned to his college town of Santa Cruz to launch Metro Santa Cruz and purchased the Sonoma County Independent. In 2000, he rebranded the publication North Bay Bohemian to support the Santa Rosa paper's expanded coverage of Napa and Marin counties. Metro Santa Cruz was renamed Santa Cruz Weekly in 2009. Santa Cruz Weekly ended its run in April 2014 when Metro purchased its weekly competitor Good Times, along with three community weeklies south of Silicon Valley: the Gilroy Dispatch, Morgan Hill Times and Hollister Free Lance.[20] [21]

In May 2015, Pulcrano negotiated the purchase of the oldest alternative weekly in the Western U.S., the Pacific Sun, and told the Silicon Valley Business Journal that the group's circulation had grown from 110,000 to 190,000 over a 14-month period.[22]

In 2020, the company was rebranded Weeklys and purchased the East Bay Express.[23] Shortly after that purchase, Weeklys launched a bi-monthly magazine home-delivered to neighborhoods in the Berkeley and Oakland hills and Piedmont.[24]

Later in 2020, Weeklys purchased the Scotts Valley-based Press Banner.[25]

In 2021, the group grew to 14 publications with the startup of the Los Gatan, a home-delivered weekly published for residents of Los Gatos and Monte Sereno, California.[26][27]

On May 3, 2022, Weeklys purchased the 157-year-old Healdsburg Tribune after its shutdown, which its non-profit owners had announced "is ending its coverage of the community, ceasing all newsgathering activities and closing its downtown office, effective immediately." Pulcrano's team published a revived edition days later, which one writer described as "a crazy-quick, totally-out-of-the-blue sale and turnaround of our beloved local paper."[28][29][30] "We are surprised, gratified and a little astonished," said Nancy Dobbs, president of the board of directors of Sonoma County Local News Initiative, which sold the newspaper's assets to Weeklys.[31]

Online entrepreneurship[edit]

As the newspaper group flourished, Pulcrano launched one of Silicon Valley's first online community portals. In 1993, as a board member of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies, he wrote a paper "The Alternative Press at the Crossroads: Will We Be Players in the New Information Age Or Road Kill on the Digital Highway?" That same year, he launched LiveWire, an early online player offering email, newsgroups, networking and live chatrooms.

The following year, he launched Boulevards New Media, with the stated intention of "inventing the local media of the future". The company is built around a Pulcrano's portfolio of "cityname.com" Web domains, including Seattle.com, SanFrancisco.com, LosAngeles.com, Philadelphia.com and more than 100 others – including 20 of the nation's top 30 markets."Urbanview Closes, Staff Shifts to Boulevards". Altweeklies.com. AAN News. October 4, 2002. Retrieved November 29, 2013. Boulevards has never been sold, acquired, venture-funded or taken public.

Pulcrano served as chairman of the board of Associated Cities, LLC for two years in 2006 and 2007. He continues to write and oversee operations in both his newspaper and online ventures.

Other ventures[edit]

Pulcrano used SXSW as an inspiration for a technology and arts festival in Silicon Valley, C2SV.[32][33] Pulcrano also chairs the San Jose Downtown Association's marketing, dining and arts committee, where he has sought to revitalize downtown San Jose.[34]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Underground papers lost their anger". The Southern Illinoisan. June 20, 1984. Retrieved December 28, 2016 – via Newspapers.com. ... Dan Pulcrano, 25, the editor, publisher and owner of The Los Gatos Weekly ...
  2. ^ Eric Van Susteren (May 6, 2015). "Metro Newspapers grows its family with North Bay paper acquisition". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  3. ^ "Urbanview Closes, Staff Shifts to Boulevards". AAN News. October 4, 2002. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  4. ^ Siegel, Fern (October 8, 2020). "Weeklys Buys 'Press Banner,' Enlarges Its Newspaper Stable". Publishers Daily. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  5. ^ Jackson, Ron (February 2008). "Changing of the Guard: How Dan Pulcrano Became The Point Man in the Historic March From Old Media to the New World Online". Domain Name Journal. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  6. ^ Friendly, Jonathan (June 17, 1984). "Transition in 'Alternative' Press Focus of Meeting". The New York Times. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  7. ^ "Editorial: Carter's sudden death shocks the community". San Jose Mercury News. March 11, 2013. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  8. ^ "How Dan Pulcrano Went from Print Publisher to Web Pioneer". www.altweeklies.com. AAN News. February 13, 2008. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  9. ^ "District Attorney Karen Sinunu press conference video". March 1, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  10. ^ Koehn, Josh (November 13, 2013). "Xavier Campos Takes the Fifth". Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  11. ^ Hasan, Najeeb (March 24, 2004). "The Six Million Dollar Woman". Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  12. ^ "Inside the Working Partnerships Political Money Machine". January 25, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  13. ^ "Team Chavez, Revealed". November 13, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2009.
  14. ^ "Family Health Fiasco: Family Health Fiasco, Part I: Foundation Funded Political Campaigns, Not Kids". Metro Silicon Valley. May 22, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  15. ^ "Family Health Fiasco: Kathleen King Wanted Better Push Polls for Measure A". Metro Silicon Valley. May 22, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  16. ^ "Family Health Fiasco: Cindy Chavez Wanted to Sue Metro". Metro Silicon Valley. May 22, 2013. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  17. ^ Koehn, Josh (May 24, 2013). "Wag the Dog: How to Change the Conversation from Dirty Politics to Sex". San Jose Inside. Retrieved December 29, 2013.
  18. ^ Herhold, Scott (May 25, 2013). "Herhold: Chuck Gillingham sounds like a DA candidate". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  19. ^ Langeveld, Martin (January 20, 2011). "The shakeup at MediaNews: Why it could be the leadup to a massive newspaper consolidation". Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved November 29, 2013.
  20. ^ Baumann, Greg (March 31, 2014). "Metro Newspapers buys weeklies in Santa Cruz, Gilroy, and Hollister". bizjournals.com. Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved April 20, 2014.
  21. ^ Baine, Wallace (March 31, 2014). "Good Times purchased by Santa Cruz Weekly". santacruzsentinel.com. Santa Cruz Sentinel. Retrieved June 17, 2023.
  22. ^ Eric Van Susteren (May 6, 2015). "Metro Newspapers grows its family with North Bay paper acquisition". Silicon Valley Business Journal. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  23. ^ DeBolt, David (March 23, 2020). "East Bay Express sold to group led by Metro Silicon Valley". East Bay Times. Bay Area News Group. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  24. ^ "Weeklys Launches 'East Bay' Magazine". CNPA. California News Publishers Association. July 28, 2020. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  25. ^ Siegel, Fern (October 8, 2020). "Weeklys Buys 'Press Banner,' Enlarges Its Newspaper Stable". Publishers Daily. Retrieved October 12, 2020.
  26. ^ "Independent publisher launches new weekly in Los Gatos, California". Editor & Publisher. September 3, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  27. ^ "Independent publisher launches new weekly in Los Gatos, California". Fairfield Sun Times. September 10, 2021. Retrieved March 21, 2022.
  28. ^ Wilson, Simone (May 4, 2022). "Healdsburg Tribune Update". Patch.com. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  29. ^ Wilson, Simone (May 3, 2022). "Tribune Back Already!". Patch.com. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  30. ^ Dudley, Brier (May 13, 2022). "California publisher saves newspaper shuttered by nonprofit". Seattle Times. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  31. ^ "Healdsburg Tribune sold 157-year-old California newspaper to continue publishing". EditorandPublisher.com. May 3, 2022. Retrieved May 17, 2022.
  32. ^ Nakaso, Dan (September 25, 2013). "C2SV festival merges music, tech, big ideas". San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  33. ^ Hepler, Lauren (September 20, 2013). "So cool it's hot? One man's quest to spark new life into San Jose". Bizjournals. Retrieved October 23, 2013.
  34. ^ Hepler, Lauren (October 18, 2013). "How San Jose merchants plan to tackle city's brand, crime problems". Bizjournals. Retrieved October 23, 2013.

External links[edit]

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