The San Francisco Chronicle is a daily newspaper based in San Francisco serving the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded on January 16, 1865 by teenage brothers Charles and Michael H. de Young as The Daily Dramatic Chronicle, reportedly bankrolled with a borrowed $20 gold piece. After interim names it adopted its present title in 1869 and grew into the largest-circulation paper on the West Coast by 1880, eventually overtaking its rival the San Francisco Examiner. The Hearst Corporation purchased the paper from the de Young family in 2000.
Relevance to the Zodiac case
The Chronicle was one of the newspapers that received correspondence from the Zodiac Killer. The killer mailed portions of a cryptogram, distributed in three sections, to the Chronicle and two other Bay Area papers during the late-1960s murder series; the section sent to the Chronicle was postmarked San Francisco and mailed July 31, 1969. The paper’s coverage of the case was associated with staff reporter Paul Avery, who pursued the Zodiac story during the era when editor Scott Newhall emphasized aggressive investigative reporting.
Web presence
In 1994 the Chronicle launched an early newspaper website, originally called “The Gate” and later SFGate. In 2013 it launched the separate SFChronicle.com; the two brands have since been operated as distinct entities.