Jules Older in San Francisco goes into bat for his favourite newspaper

The Chronicle: Ten reasons I hope you'll subscribe

Like papers everywhere, the San Francisco Chronicle is in trouble. More and more of us are getting our news online; fewer and fewer are buying papers.

Here's why I hope you'll reverse that trend in your house, as we have in ours.

1.    PG&E. This company is blowing us up. Literally blowing us up. Without the Chronicle’s investigative team, we’d never know that it’s also ‘losing’ evidence, ‘misplacing’ documents, using shoddy materials, in a cozy relationship with the state’s ‘regulators’… and while the smoke was still hanging in the air over San Bruno, PG&E gave a big bonus to its ‘safety’ director.

2.    Jon Carroll.

3.    Ed Lee. I was right behind Ed for Mayor until the Chronicle began exposing shady practices, shady backers, shady money, even a shady instant biography/hagiography. When I saw Lee’s beautifully produced, ultra-hip, had-to-be wildly expensive YouTube video, that sealed it — I'm voting for somebody else. Wouldn't have known to change my mind without the Chronicle.

4.    Bad Reporter.

5.    UC. At a time when student fees are rising and entrance quotas shrinking, the University of California has been quietly upping pay and bennies for administrators. How do I know? Read all about it in theChronicle.

6.    Willy Brown.

7.    Local obsessions. Aside from sports teams (where Chronicle coverage also shines), what are the things that most interest Greater San Franciscans? Food. Wine. The digital world. Green technology. Nearby nature, beaches and mountains. I keep up on all of them through my morning paper.

8.    Doonesbury.

9.    Lively prose. If I have an addiction, it’s to great writing. I'm amazed at how often I look up from the paper and say, “Hey, listen to this.”

10Leah Garchik.T

Two things you should know.
First, I'm not sentimental about paper vs. digital. I like and use both. But I am passionateabout knowing what’s really going on. Not all papers deliver that, but the Chronicle does… and if it’s going to continue, it needs the financial support of subscribers.

Second, I occasionally write for the Chronicle, and I occasionally fight with the Chronicle. Neither has influenced this message in the slightest.

In this house, we’re subscribers. I hope you'll be one, too.

— jules