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Berkeley Daily Planet

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Berkeley Daily Planet
TypeWeekly newspaper
FormatTabloid
PublisherMichael O'Malley
EditorBecky O'Malley
FoundedApril 7, 1999
Ceased publication
March 2010 (print)
Headquarters3023A Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94705
United States
Websiteberkeleydailyplanet.com

The Berkeley Daily Planet was a free weekly newspaper published in Berkeley, California, which continued as an internet-based news publication until 2026. [1]

The Daily Planet was politically progressive, and offered endorsements of progressive and liberal to left leaning candidates. It also provided coverage of City Council meetings and detailed coverage of local land use issues in the city.

History

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On April 7, 1999, three Stanford MBAs and two journalists from Turlock published the first edition of the Berkeley Daily Planet with funding from outside investors.[2] In August 2000, the publishers started a second free daily called the San Mateo Daily Journal.[3]

On November 22, 2002, the paper abruptly shut down as it had never turned a profit.[4][5] That December, husband-and-wife Michael and Becky O'Malley, two computer software millionaires, bought the paper from Bigfoot Media, Inc., and revived the publication.[6][7] The San Francisco Chronicle described the O'Malleys as a "liberal Berkeley couple who are grandparents and longtime activists." The paper relaunched in April 2003 as a twice weekly published on Tuesday and Friday, and employed four fulltime journalists.[8]

In May 2008, Daily Planet became a weekly published on Thursday. On Feb. 25, 2010, the paper discontinued its print edition and went digital only due to financial reasons.[9][10] On Aug. 13, 2026, the publication ceased.[11][12][13]

Editorial controversies

[edit]

Becky O'Malley wrote in 2004 that the paper repeatedly was criticized for its position on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.[14] In August 2006, the paper published a letter, later characterized by some readers as an anti-Semitic diatribe, in the opinion section of the Planet. It was a response from an Iranian student living in India to Israel's invasion of Lebanon, and included his charge that Jews were to blame for the Holocaust. Two open letters containing criticisms were sent to Ms. O'Malley by local politicians and Jewish leaders and were published in the August 11 issue of the Daily Planet.[15]

Struggling financially in the bad economy, in early 2009 the Daily Planet published a full front page asking for donations, resulting in $12,000 in the first two weeks.[16] In March 2009 the paper ran a letter from the proprietor of Urban Ore reporting that a Jim Sinkinson, representing “East Bay Citizens for Journalistic Responsibility”, asked her to stop advertising there; she claimed that he misrepresented what the Planet had been publishing.[17] The paper subsequently printed "An Open Letter to Our Advertisers and Readers" to "clarify the policies of the paper, its overall mission, and the nature of this campaign of intimidation";[18] Sinkinson denied pressuring or threatening advertisers.[19] The dispute was covered in The New York Times in November 2009.[20]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ OMally, Becky. "We Told You So". Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved August 28, 2026.
  2. ↑ Burress, Charles (March 26, 1999). "The Daily Planet It Is / Publishers hope Berkeley has space for new tabloid". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  3. ↑ Simon, Mark (August 24, 2000). "News Goes Local-Local In San Mateo". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 1.
  4. ↑ "Breaking News: Daily Planet Folds". The Daily Californian. November 22, 2002. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  5. ↑ "Daily Planet spins no more in Berkeley". Merced Sun-Star. Associated Press. November 25, 2002. p. 7.
  6. ↑ Burress, Charles (December 25, 2002). "Defunct paper may be revived by Berekly pair". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 26.
  7. ↑ Brand, William (December 25, 2002). "Up, up and away: super couple save Berkeley Daily Planet". Oakland Tribune. p. 14.
  8. ↑ Burress, Charles (April 2, 2003). "Berkeley Daily Planet rises again / Preservationist couple revive independent paper -- twice a week". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  9. ↑ Bender, Kristen (February 12, 2010). "Plug pulled on Daily Planet". Oakland Tribune. p. 3.
  10. ↑ Kuruvila, Matthai (February 12, 2010). "Daily Planet to end printing, be just online". San Francisco Chronicle. p. 1.
  11. ↑ "We Told You So". The Berkeley Daily Planet. August 13, 2026. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  12. ↑ Ekonde, Daniel (August 28, 2026). "The Berkeley Daily Planet has written its last headline". Berkeleyside. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  13. ↑ Vaziri, Aidin (August 29, 2026). "Berkeley's longtime independent newspaper, the Daily Planet, is shutting down". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  14. ↑ O'Malley, Becky (May 14, 2004). "Editorial: Taking an Acrimony Break". The Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  15. ↑ Johnson, Chip (September 1, 2006). "Why did Berkeley paper run anti-Jewish column?". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved August 30, 2026.
  16. ↑ Wang, Alan (March 10, 2009). "Small town paper struggles to survive". ABC7 San Francisco. KGO-TV. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  17. ↑ Van Deventer, Mary Lou (March 11, 2009). "Public Comment | Daily Planet Attacker Shoots Self in Foot". The Berkeley Daily Planet. Retrieved August 29, 2026.
  18. ↑ "Editorials| An Open Letter to Our Advertisers and Readers". The Berkeley Daily Planet. March 19, 2009. Retrieved August 28, 2026.
  19. ↑ Pazornik, Amanda (March 26, 2009). "Anti-Israel letters to Berkeley newspaper draw ire". J. The Jewish News of Northern California. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
  20. ↑ McKinley, Jesse (November 27, 2009). "In a Home to Free Speech, a Paper Is Accused of Anti-Semitism". The New York Times. Retrieved October 22, 2013.
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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Berkeley_Daily_Planet&oldid=1372038607"