Embarcadero Media Foundation

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Embarcadero Media Foundation
Status501(c)(3) Nonprofit organization
PredecessorThe Embarcadero Publishing Company
Founded1979 (1979)
FounderBill Johnson, Robert Heinen, Roger Sanford
Headquarters location2345 Yale St., Palo Alto, California
Publication typesPalo Alto Weekly, Palo Alto Online, The Almanac, Mountain View Voice, The Six Fifty, Pleasanton Weekly, Livermore Vine, RWC Pulse, Peninsula Foodest
Official websitewww.embarcaderomediagroup.com

Embarcadero Media Foundation is a publishing company whose titles include the Palo Alto Weekly, The Almanac, the Mountain View Voice, the Pleasanton Weekly, The Six Fifty, and Palo Alto Online.

The company was founded as The Embarcadero Publishing Company in 1979 by William Johnson and was renamed Embarcadero Media in 2009.[1]

Johnson served as president and CEO until 2022, when he announced that he would retire and be succeeded by Adam Dawes, while remaining chairman of the board of directors.[2]

In November 2023, the company announced the transition to a non-profit.[3]

On September 26, 2023 reporters at the Embarcadero Media Foundation announced they were forming a union of reporters, editors and visual journalists. 90% of non-management newsroom employees signed a union authorization card for representation as a unit of the Pacific Media Workers Guild[4] and the union won voluntary recognition a month later.[5]

Transition to Nonprofit Status

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On November 15, 2023, Embarcadero issued a press release acknowledging that in recent years, Embarcadero Media had faced significant challenges, including declining advertising revenue due to the local business closures from the pandemic and changing shopping patterns away from local retailers, the press release stated. "Across our three newspapers and special publications, we've seen our print ads revenue decline by more than 42% since the end of 2019. Revenue across our entire operation, including print, our seven news websites and three newsletters, has declined by 32%," Chief Executive Officer Adam Dawes wrote.[6][7] "All over the country, news organizations are failing or on the verge of failure, primarily due to the steady decline in advertising revenue that has stemmed from the use of digital media," Executive Chairman of Embarcadero Media Bill Johnson said.[8]

Hacking

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Further information: The Almanac (Menlo Park) § Hacking incident

On September 17, 2015 at 10:30 p.m, all Embarcadero Media sites paloaltoonline.com, mv-voice.com, almanacnews.com, pleasantonweekly.com and danvillesanramon.com were hacked and replaced with a message purporting to be from the hacking group Anonymous that said The Almanac had not removed content that was "harmful to the wellbeing and safety of others."[9] After a two-year FBI investigation, Richmond resident Ross M. Colby, 35, was indicted and subsequently convicted for the hack. While no personal information was leaked, Embarcadero Media later learned two Almanac articles were edited.[10]

References

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  1. ^ "NAME CHANGE FROM THE EMBARCADERO PUBLISHING COMPANY Control ID LBA23021284". California Secretary of State. 10 June 2009. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  2. ^ "Weekly publisher announces retirement after four decades at the helm". Palo Alto Online. June 10, 2022.
  3. ^ "Bay Area media company Embarcadero Media announces transition to nonprofit" (PDF). embarcaderomediafoundation.org. Embarcadero Media Foundation. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  4. ^ staff, Embarcadero Media (2023-09-26). "Saying they want a seat at the table, Palo Alto Weekly journalists join effort to form a company-wide union". Palo Alto Online. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
  5. ^ Casillas, Christina (2023-10-24). "Embarcadero Media union receives voluntary recognition". Los Altos Town Crier. Retrieved 2025-04-21.
  6. ^ Dawes, Adam (15 November 2023). "A message from Embarcadero Media's CEO". paloaltoonline.com. Embarcadero Publishing. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  7. ^ "Bay Area media company Embarcadero Media announces transition to nonprofit" (PDF). embarcaderomediafoundation.org. Embarcadero Media Foundation. 15 November 2023. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  8. ^ Bhatia, Rohan (21 December 2023). "Embarcadero Media announces transition to nonprofit". TheCampanile.org. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
  9. ^ "Embarcadero Media Group Sites Hacked by Anonymous?". San Jose Inside. 2015-09-18. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
  10. ^ Dremann, Sue (2019-06-19). "Almanac, Embarcadero Media hacker sentenced". The Almanac. Retrieved 2025-09-29.
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