Susan Dyer Reynolds

  1. Home
  2. Wiki

Susan Dyer Reynolds is a conservative journalist and right-wing pundit.[1][2] Reynolds is the CEO and editorial director of the Voice of San Francisco, and former editor-in-chief and co-owner of the Marina Times.

Career

[edit]

Marina Times

[edit]

Reynolds was co-owner and editor-in-chief of The Marina Times, a hyperlocal news outlet in San Francisco that was founded in 1985. In 2020, the paper was sold to Street Media, the publisher of LA Weekly.[3][4][5] When she left day-to-day operations, Reynolds retained control of the outlet's twitter account (which became the subject of a lawsuit against Supervisor Dean Preston) and was named editor emeritus.[3][2]

Gotham by the Bay

[edit]

Reynolds launched a Substack newsletter, Gotham by the Bay, in 2021. The project was funded, in part, by fundraising Reynolds undertook with venture capitalist Jason Calcanis.[6] Gotham by the Bay also received a $100,000 payment from Neighbors for a Better San Francisco in 2022.[6]

Voice of San Francisco

[edit]

Along with Marina Times publisher Earl Adkins, Reynolds co-founded The Voice of San Francisco in April 2024; she serves as editorial director. The outlet has 501(c)(3) nonprofit status.[7]

Lawsuit against Supervisor Dean Preston

[edit]

Reynolds filed suit against San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston, accusing him of violating her First Amendment rights by blocking the account for The Marina Times on twitter. The block occurred in 2020. Supervisor Preston, who was represented by the San Francisco City Attorney in the case, left twitter entirely in 2023 after Elon Musk, who acquired the twitter platform in 2022, called for Preston to be imprisoned in an unrelated incident.[8][9][10] Reynolds accused Preston of blocking the account because of her criticism of his policy objectives. Preston stated that he blocked the account for threatening him and his family.[2]

The case, which was filed in December 2022 by Harmeet Dhillon on behalf or Reynolds, eventually reached the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.[11][12][13][14] The three judge panel in the Ninth Circuit ruled unanimously, in June 2024, that the suit could be dismissed as Reynolds was unable to establish that Supervisor Preston was acting in his official capacity when he blocked the Marina Times twitter account. Reynolds filed a request for reconsideration and, the following week, the Ninth Circuit judges issued a revised ruling that allowed the case to continue, with the stipulation that Reynolds could not seek monetary damages.[11] Following the revised ruling, Reynolds dropped her suit in exchange for the City Attorney's assurance that they would not seek to recover attorneys fees from Reynolds.[15][16]

Ethics complaint

[edit]

In August 2024, an anonymous complainant filed an ethics complaint against Reynolds, alleging that she was a paid consultant for Mark Farrell's mayoral campaign without filing the appropriate disclosures. The complaint mentioned a $100,000 payment to Reynolds in her capacity at Gotham by the Bay, from public pressure group Neighbors for a Better San Francisco, which supported Farrell. Neighbors for a Better San Francisco had, at the time of the complaint against Reynolds' filing, been fined by the San Francisco Ethics Commission for failure to disclose payments made to a campaign worker during the 2022 San Francisco District Attorney Recall.[17]

A report about the complaint filed against Reynolds in Mission Local linked to emails from Reynolds wherein she denied the allegations in the complaint, and went on to accuse the reporter who reached out to her for comment of filing the ethics complaint himself. The same report provided analysis that Reynolds, who regularly harangues local politicians, candidates for office, journalists, and news outlets, had exempted Farrell from criticism.[7][2]

Background

[edit]

Prior to the filing of the anonymous complaint, Reynolds was implicated in a mayoral debate scandal.[18] In August 2024, there was to be a debate for the 2024 mayoral race at the Commonwealth Club organized — in part — by The Voice of San Francisco along with public pressure group ConnectedSF. Incumbent mayoral candidate London Breed pulled out of the debate alleging that the organizers, including Reynolds and The Voice of San Francisco, and ConnectedSF, "already committed their support to Mark Farrell".[19][18] The debate was eventually cancelled after three of the five top candidates pulled out of the debate.[20]

Reactions

[edit]

Reynolds faced condemnation after she posted a homophobic tweet conflating homosexuality with pedophilia in March 2021; the Harvey Milk Club, along with other Democratic political groups in San Francisco, called for her to be removed as editor emeritus of The Marina Times and revocation of her access to their twitter account.[21][22][23]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Do Park Rangers really need to be fingerprinting hot dog vendors?". sf.gazetteer.co. 2025-02-19. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  2. ^ a b c d Egelko, Bob (Dec 15, 2022). "Conservative S.F. journalist sues Supervisor Dean Preston for blocking her on Twitter". San Francisco Chronicle.
  3. ^ a b Mojadad, Ida (2020-12-23). "LA Weekly owners buy Marina Times, Village Voice". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  4. ^ Staff, SF Weekly (2013-08-07). "A Game of Tug: Pet Food Express Tries to Be the Most Adorable Franchise in Town". SFWeekly. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  5. ^ Matier, By Phil. "In S.F., stealing a car is only the beginning of the crime". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2025-09-08. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  6. ^ a b "Smear Campaign: Garry Tan embraces strategy of defamation". The Nerd Reich. 2024-05-30. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  7. ^ a b Barros, Joe Rivano (2024-08-13). "Ethics complaint targets former Marina Times editor Susan Dyer Reynolds". Mission Local. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  8. ^ "San Francisco Supervisor Leaves Twitter After Call for Imprisonment". sfstandard.com. 2023-10-13. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  9. ^ "Arguments highlight murky rules on officials' social media". www.dailyjournal.com. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  10. ^ Gennaro, Michael (2024-06-03). "Ninth Circuit dismisses conservative journalist's First Amendment lawsuit against San Francisco Supervisor Dean Preston". Courthouse News Service. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  11. ^ a b Egelko, Bob (June 10, 2024). "9th Circuit revives part of journalist's lawsuit against S.F. Supervisor Dean Preston". San Francisco Chronicle.
  12. ^ Egelko, Bob (March 18, 2024). "New SCOTUS rules for pols who block social media critics could impact case against S.F. Supervisor Dean Preston". San Francisco Chronicle.
  13. ^ Egelko, Bob (June 4, 2024). "9th Circuit tosses conservative journalist's lawsuit against S.F. Supervisor Dean Preston". San Francisco Chronicle.
  14. ^ "Block Party: Conservative journalist gets greenlight to continue suit against 'Democratic Socialist kingpin' supervisor". sf.gazetteer.co. 2024-06-21. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  15. ^ Egelko, Bob. "Journalist drops free speech lawsuit against S.F. Supervisor Dean Preston". San Francisco Chronicle. Archived from the original on 2024-10-03. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  16. ^ "Conservative journalist and SF supervisor settle absurdist suit over block from non-existent X account". sf.gazetteer.co. 2024-08-23. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  17. ^ Barros, Joe Rivano (2024-08-06). "S.F. political group that bankrolled DA recall on hook for $54K ethics fine". Mission Local. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  18. ^ a b Barros, Joe Rivano (2024-08-09). "See how they run: New polling, debate drama hits SF mayor's race". Mission Local. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  19. ^ Shanks, Adam (2024-09-13). "Breed choosing debates, forums carefully". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2025-10-08.
  20. ^ Shanks, Adam (2024-05-18). "TogetherSF cancels Monday mayoral debate". San Francisco Examiner. Retrieved 2025-10-10.
  21. ^ Bard, Kevin. "Joint Club Statement on The Removal of Susan Reynolds after Homophobic Remarks". Harvey Milk LGBTQ Democratic Club. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  22. ^ "Fact check: California bill does not legalize pedophilia". Reuters. 2020-09-04. Retrieved 2025-10-07.
  23. ^ "Political Notes: SF Democratic leaders accuse local journalist of 'blatant homophobia'". Bay Area Reporter. Retrieved 2025-10-07.