The San Francisco Examiner is a daily newspaper in San Francisco, California, where it has been published continuously since 1865, beginning with the name The Daily Examiner. William Randolph Hearst took over The Daily Examiner in 1887 (at age 23) from his father, George Hearst, who by some accounts is said to have accepted it as payment for a gambling debt. The paper was subsequently renamed The San Francisco Examiner. Under Hearst, the paper's popularity increased greatly, with the help of such writers as Ambrose Bierce, Mark Twain and the San Francisco born Jack London. Sales were helped by the Examiner's own version of yellow journalism, printing scandal and satire, as well as helping build support for the Spanish American war and the annexation of the Philippines.

After the great earthquake and fire of 1906 destroyed much of San Franciso, The San Francisco Examiner and its erstwhile rival, the San Francisco Chronicle, brought out a joint edition. For 35 years starting in 1965(?) the The San Francisco Chronicle and Examiner operated under a Joint Operating Agreement whereby The Chronicle published a morning paper and The San Francisco Examiner published an afternoon paper.

In 2000 Ted Fang obtained the Examiners name, its archives, 35 delivery trucks and a subsidy of $66 million (over two years) as part of the Hearst corporation's acquisition of the San Francisco Chronicle. The last day the Hearst Corporation published the Examiner was November 21, 2000. Soon the Examiner shrank drastically in size, becoming tabloid format. The Chronicle Publishing Company, owner of the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper until 2000, has been a privately-held, family-run company since the DeYoung family first published the San Francisco Chronicle in 1865.

On September 12, 2001, the front page of the Examiner featured a photo of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center on fire as the result of the September 11, 2001 attacks, and the accompanying headline read: "BASTARDS! A Changed America." The edition quickly became a collector's item.

On February 19, 2004 it was announced that Denver, Colorado-based billionaire Philip Anschutz had purchased the Examiner and its printing plant for an estimated $20 million. The Examiner is now distributed as a free tabloid.

On February 1, 2005, the Washington Examiner, a newspaper in a similar format also owned by Anschutz, began publication in Washington, D.C. Anschutz has registered trademarks for "Examiner" newspapers in several other cities and may introduce other "Examiners" in the future.

External link

• San Francisco Examiner website