SF Chronicle Disputes NY Times Report About Ending Food Section
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — The San Francisco Chronicle is disputing a report in the New York Times which said the newspaper plans to stop publishing its beloved standalone food section.
Audrey Cooper, the Chronicle's managing editor, said Wednesday that they are disappointed about how much information was incorrect in the article and that the Times never contacted her to verify information before publication.
"We are not ending our food coverage. In fact the one thing that I've said over and over when I go out into the community, is that if anything— it is impossible to separate the San Francisco experience from our food culture. It's been one of the pillars of the Chronicle's journalism for decades," Cooper said.
Cooper added while there might be some restructuring of the newspaper and their format, there is no chance that they will be putting less news about food and wine into the newspaper.
"We are going through the entire paper section by section and looking at ways to reinvest in some areas we might have neglected," she said.
Cooper also said that there have been discussions in the news room on how to expand and better improve their coverage and that they certainly want to do a better job.
"I would say that we have a lot of people that want to compete with us in this arena, including the news source that printed this erroneous report. I will put our food staff against any other food staff in the nation," Cooper said.
Cooper said The Chronicle's food coverage is the "best" and rated the Bay Area's food culture as top-notch. "We want to celebrate that and we want to double down on it."
The New York Times stated that Chronicle staff members spoke to them anonymously about the plans to end the food section, fearing reprisals for disclosing the plans. The Times also claimed that the Chronicle's president, Joanne Bradford, told staff that the section was not sustainable.
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