There's a staff editorial in this week's SFBG discussing the decline of the Chronicle and a new KQED/Warren Hellman-led non-profit venture to create a new online news source for San Francisco. The Guardian takes a few moments to get in some digs at the Chron -- in particular at such conservative columnists as C.W. Nevius who we'd probably agree seems to "disdain everything about San Francisco and urban life in general" -- and they assert, "It's little wonder then that a significant percentage of San Franciscans (in particular, younger people) see no reason whatsoever to pick up the San Francisco Chronicle."

While we might not go *so* far as to say that, we certainly think they make some good points, especially that the Bay Area can't live without a strong, fully staffed, daily news gathering organization -- as very modestly staffed bloggers we depend on real reporters to feed us the details, in case you hadn't noticed. However we disagree that news coverage has notably worsened since the decline of the Chron. Though the Bay Area may be hurting for good reportage, we think that started long before the Chron's most recent woes. Anyhow, check out the piece and weigh in as you like. Good day.