seven years. currently, i worke with photographs. it is really all about the business model. patch believe they can make money based on advertising. other local newspapers believe advertising is not enough to support journalism. i am interested in your thoughts on that, brian. and pat, i know that you are looking for 20, 30 times returns. >> what is that? >> i put in $1 million and i get $10 million out. >> we do not know what that is an public radio. [laughter] >> ok, thank you. i would like to ask our guests to keep the questions short and sweet. we have a lot of questions.

>> patch is built on ad revenue, but not in the -- it is not just banner ads. it is about serving the community. there is a business community as well. small business owners who knew to be served, the sorts of at products that benefit them. all of these are good, from non profit, to different models. you mean that variety. i got an e-mail from taxable. i appreciate that. >> you have a question for pat as well? >> i think the business model in the media always changes. the big one that everyone has seen in their lifetime is, when i was a kid, tv was free. across america, it was funded by advertisers.

today, the vast majority of americans pay a fee to get television. if the contact mix is right, hard journalism, entertainment, people will pay. all along the spectrum from the complete the paid to be completely ad-funded, you see it all today. one of the crisis we have now is the old model of classified advertising, paying for hard news journalism on paper has broken the, and is being replaced. that business model change had been a constant for 150 years. there are millions of models that work, and will be, and capital can chase them, as you get a 10x return, as you described. >> we want to get to everyone's questions. >> my name is alex. i have heard two major themes about new media. one, that it has a radical

democratic potential, low barrier to entry, but i have also heard repeated again and again, in order for your model to be successful, in order for your web site to be successful, you have to hitch your wagon to a large, well-funded, established media corporation. i wonder, in light of that, how new, really, is new media? as the dust settles, is new media not just become the old media as it has been? how far have we come from a daily billing 60 years ago criticizing, saying the press is free only for those who own one. >> is a great question. i am going to go back to that first question, the quality of digital journalism. we are more than 15 years into

internet news. still, you hear people say it is coming along. someday it will be good. quality journalism existed on the internet from day one. it was there. the internet journalists were winning awards from day one. there is a lot of noise surrounding it, which makes it seem worse, say, than "the chronicle." quality journalism is there. the new part of the media is not a new types of stories being told, but how they are being told, short for nurses long form, and how they are distributed on your one newspaper or magazine or one website, versus to run the mobile universe, or threat the internet universe, portals. do you want to give 30% of revenue to apple in order to distribute it? lots of publishers are making that decision.

it is the distribution from free tv to pay tv and the change from the free online destination media to mobile everywhere media and the creation of brands there. along with the business model, that is what we are working on. >> the want to go to the next question. we have to get to everybody. >> my name is peter bergen. i am an investigative reporter. i do not write content, i do not right product. i do news reporting. i do not write material to put ads around. there are some assumptions coming from this gathering that i find troubling. many years ago, upton sinclair wrote a classical study of journalism. he said that the advertising model does not work. clearly, it does work, but the main thing that is missing from what everyone has been talking about so far is the consumer.

when i read long form of journalism, which i write, i print it out. when i mounted an investigation of the region's last year of california, i collected about $7,000 from individuals and parlayed it into six print journeys, seven weeklies. got a lot of national coverage. it made some difference in people's lives, but i did not take a dime from any corporation. ok? so let's talk about how we go back to the model where people who need investigation, news -- because my duty is not to reflect corporations. let us not be proud that we are moving forward because we do not have journalist unions anymore. that's going back to selling the

news that people need, and get rid of the middle man, which is turning out to be a lot of publishers. >> first, thank you for bringing that up. a great question. it gives me the opportunity to talk about two things i am passionate about, perspective and poor people. neither one of those things are efficient -- artificial when it becomes to becoming an millionaire. there is a website that i really liked called poormagazine. that has existed for the past 10 years, focusing on the homeless communities in the bay area. everything that they get is donations and they get few donations. they focus on the things that are ignored by the media outlets, and they are doing it specifically for the people on the streets. those are the kinds of people, the people that they are

focusing on. but to be honest, they do not pay bills, they do not have money for advertising. the perspective that comes from those communities are often not what foundation's one. foundations usually go from labor of the month to flavor of the month. we are backed by foundations, so hopefully i am not biting myself in the ass. if you are foundation-funded, you have to focus on what the foundation wants. if you are advertising-focused, you have to focus on what the advertiser wants. so where is the space for this marginalized community? i did a story two years ago that focused on west oakland, dealing with asthma rates. nobody in west oakland had the money to pay for it, but everybody read it. i know because i walked around and handed out paper copies of it. how do we focus on those

organizations, the people who cannot do it themselves? i am sorry to answer your question with a question, but it is something i am passionate about. >> hello, i am just graduating high school this year. i plan to pursue a career in journalism. like others, i get a constant reminder that it is a struggling field. personally, i am not too concerned with money. i am just passionate about journalism. like many others, i want to know what it is looking like for people like me, who are planning to pursue a career in journalism, what steps do i need to be taking? >> four years from now, i believe she will be out of journalism school, what will landscaped look like? >> it will look great because

you are cheap labor. [laughter] and there is plenty of room for you to work their way up. if you really focus on digital skills that make you stand out from everyone else, you are going to make it. fundamentally, you need to write well. if you can do that, you will be successful in this industry. i honestly believe that there is plenty of room for people who want to pursue careers in journalism right now. >> what skills should they be learning, at this point, if they are just going into k school -- j scjool? -- school? >> certainly, the ability to write. being able to speak to the reader, you should certainly learn and probably already know how to do so, video.

basically, how to use all of the social media channels available. but i would not really focus so much on those tools because they are getting easier and easier by the day. i am sure four years from now, -- you probably get that in school anyway, but you want to focus on the basics of understand your role as a reporter in a community. and jobs are becoming available. there is more hiring going on. that will continue, going forward. >> one question would be, who is a journalist? that fundamental question. does she have to go to journalism school for four years to be considered? how can she distinguish herself from a citizen journalist or a blogger? need there be a distinction? that goes into a whole nother question of who is a journalist.

nobody wants to tackle that question. >> you should also visit new terms and talk to journalists about what they do. >> i will try to be quick. i think there is a spectrum of journalism and there are professionals. citizen journalists along the spectrum, but they are all valuable. i was going to say, one of the things you should learn how to do is promote yourself and promote your brand. you can get on tomorrow, you can build clips like no other time in history. you can do that on facebook, your web site. learning how to use your network to promote the thing that you care about, what to write about, is a huge scale that the internet will allow you to do. >> my name is claudia. i worked for pat. my question is for everyone on

the panel. -- i work for patch. noting the lack of hispanics on the panel, how do newsrooms address in-language content and sourcing? try to get people in the community, the poor and marginalized, to interact with digital journalism? >> and journalists need to know more than one language, it is that simple. you need to be able to interact with members of your community that you normally would not be able to if you were restricted by language. that is what i tell my students. i always tell them to minor in spanish, not just because it will make them better reporters, but it will get them jobs in a wider variety of markets. so i do believe that is incredibly important. if you do not speak the

language, you find somebody who does. you have them help you. if you were to cover communities, for example, who speak mandarin or cantonese, and you do not speak a word, that is not necessarily a limitation. action--- definitely be part of a journalist's training and anyone who is of having will have a better shot at telling stories. -- multilingual will have a better shot at telling stories. >> we are out of time. i want to thank all of our panelists. thank you all. and thank you all for coming. [applause] [applause]

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>> welcome to sfvotes 2011. we're bringing you statements by 14 of candidates for mayor of san francisco. >> my name is jeff adachi and i am running for mayor. i've served as elected public defender for nine years. i spent my entire career in social justice, and shrink the civil rights of all san francisco and are enforced and respected. my parents and grandparents were in turned during the war. from their experience came a passion for justice. i spent seven years working to free an innocent man from death row. over the past nine years, i've transformed the public defender's office into one of the best in the nation.

i have created rehabilitation, community outreach, and youth programs. these programs have helped thousands of people lead productive lives. in 2007, my office received a national award from american bar association for best public office. i am an experienced manager. i twice won the top management award in the city. i brought the very best in technology and innovation to my department. i brought my department's budget on target for eight out of nine years. as mayor, i will focus on jobs, housing, education and addressing our fiscal crisis. i will create a program that will provide 1000 micro loans to support small businesses. this will create 7800 jobs and help revitalize our neighborhoods. i will also address the lack of affordable housing for lower and income san francisco families. i will be a mayor who supports public education. i will restore summer school

which has been cut two years in a row and will make sure every high-school or who wants a summer job or internship get one. most importantly, i will address and solve our fiscal crisis. i'm the only candidate to take on a difficult issue of pension reform. i put proposition d on the ballot to protect basic services and rick shut -- read -- repayment the system. this is money they can be reinvested in jobs, protecting services and education. san francisco need a strong, independent leader in these challenging times. i will be a leader that's honest and my decision making and will always insure that the interest of the people come first. i will defend the public from special interest and eliminate inefficiencies, cronyism, and waste we all know exist in city government. above all else, i will be a mayor committed to pursuing the best solutions to our

challenges, not the most expedient. revitalizing our city will require strong leadership and a pragmatic vision. with your help, we can tackle these difficult challenges and do what is best for san francisco. please cast one of your three votes for me and visit my website. thank you. >> election day is november 8th, 2011. that is the last day to vote in person and the last day for receipt of a vote by mail ballots. >> hello. i am michela alioto-pier, former district supervisor and candidate for mayor. my grandfather came to san francisco from sicily. he got his very first job at eight years old lighting street lamps at fisherman's wharf. he eventually bought himself a boat and by the time of the great earthquake in 1906, he had several fishing boats.

when the fire began to destroy san francisco, he loaded neighbors on to the bow. it was on that last boat he was introduced to my grandmother as he led her into the fishing boat for safety. my grandfather met my grandmother, and together, they tried to rebuild a city. san francisco has given my family so much opportunity and i would like to make sure our city continues to be a city of opportunity for everyone. san francisco is a place for history and we honor our past. we have also always looked forward to the future. what was once a gold rush town -- we became a center of finance and business, and when technology became a driving industry in the world, we became a center for people looking to launch new companies and new ideas. as a supervisor, i've focused on

a future and saw the need for long-term planning and push for the very first economic plan in san francisco. i developed the biotech payroll tax exemption which attracted companies to san francisco, creating hundreds of jobs and becoming a template to attract high-tech business right here. for every one ph.d. position, we created six entry-level jobs. i created a film and tv rebate program which put people to work and paid out over $5 million in wages in 2008 and 2010. i worked to save st. luke's hospital in the mission and eliminate hazardous power plants in the bayview. san francisco deserved a mayor forward thinking as our people. we need neighborhood schools, long-term budget solutions and a government that is transparent and responsive.

the eyes of the world will be on us for the america's cup. we need to turn that events into real opportunity by expanding our cruise ship terminals and ensuring the most green america's cup ever and turning it into long-term permanent jobs. that is the kind of mayor i will be. i humbly ask for your vote. thank you. >> the league of women voters and sfgov tv have collaborated to bring in statements from 14 candidates for mayor of san francisco. >> my name is cesar ascarrunz. i'm a businessman in san francisco. i lived here for the last 40 years. through my years, i learned and watched very successful and entertainment business. i went to college and i and hands my education at uc-

berkeley. i opened restaurants and nightclubs which have been very successful. in the '70s, there where crime drives. people used to tell me this guy was going to grow but -- going to grow -- going to go broke in six months. [unintelligible] i am running for mayor because of san francisco is full of corrections. i have to clean all of this mess we have in san francisco because somebody has to take care of business. i am financing my own campaign. i am a capable and successful businessman. i was invited to the white

house, president reagan, president bush, president clinton, and i asked the people why. you are taking everybody and i did that. the solution for san francisco is economics. we have to bring businesses through. right now they are very unfriendly. to get a permit to build a house takes two years. to get a permit to build a house, it takes months and months. in a way, it is ok, but not that long. you go to nevada, you can open a business in two weeks. it's the same country, the same language, that's why i'm running for mayor. the solution for the business in san francisco, the most beautiful city in the world, is

nobody through the years will having a business person in this city. the prior mayor was a professional politician. the prior mayor was a police officer. i'm a professional businessman, successful, which is i know how to make the payroll. thank you very much. think about it. vote for the people you know and don't vote for somebody you don't know. thank you very much. god bless you. >> election day is november 8th, 2011. that is the last day to vote in person and the last day for receipt of the vote by mail ballots. >> hello, i'm a pioneer lesbian playwright. average nine gay-rights comical ethics, anti-semitism, and the

eternal pursuit of love. my plays have been translated and performed all over the world. for 35 years, i've immersed myself in the cultural and political life of san francisco. i was fed green party candidate for 2004 and now i'm running for mayor because i am a passionate citizen and i don't like what's happening to my city. san francisco is in the grip of a democratic party machine, the backroom deals, the corruption has created a government that gives corporations like twitter a tax break while basic services are cut, but another city is possible. a city with transit so great you don't need your car. buses every 10 minutes, truly save by claims all over the city. let's make really magnificent every effort -- every underground station covered with murals and mosaics, every bus

shelter a work of art. transit so great you don't want your car. now, only the rich can afford to live here. but another city is possible. let's declare a moratorium on building houses for the wealthy. we have 24 billionaires'. that's enough. we need housing for poor workers, middle-class families, artists. these people are the backbone and soul of san francisco. they deserve to live here. where will the money come from? a few ideas -- one, a municipal bank of san francisco will get the interest on its own pension funds instead of giving it to bankamerica. second, dumppg &e to have public power. that would give us lower rates. 3, the rich must pay their fair share in taxes. money is being sucked upward as i speak.

let's bring it back down. taxes the rich. duh. in this era of white -- right wing at renters and passes aggressive -- it is time for a woman, it is time for a green, it is time for san francisco to woman up and become the city outsiders already think it is. remember, ranked joyce voting gives you the freedom to vote your heart. if my ideas excite you, make me your number one choice. eight other city is possible. -- another city as possible. >> the league of women voters and sfgovtv has partnered to give you statements from 14 people running for mayor. >> i am david chiu, president of

the board of supervisors. my story is not differ from the hundreds of thousands of san francisco not born here. i was born in cleveland, raised in boston, the son of immigrant parents who sacrificed so my brothers and i could receive a grade education. in my mid-20s, like thousands of san franciscans, i came to our city for the reasons whole world loves us. our diversity, our commitment to social justice. by worked as a civil rights attorney and criminal prosecutor to protect these qualities of our city. i delved into another part of what makes our city special, our innovation, are entrepreneurialism, and i founded and ran a small business for nine years. i decided to run for board of supervisors because for much of last decade, city hall was not as functional as it should be. i am proud that during my three years as president of o