It takes an incredible amount of guts, drive, and fortitude to run a neighborhood newspaper in this day and age, let alone two. When it was announced over the weekend that Michael Durand—editor and publisher of both the 38-year-old Richmond Review and the 35-year-old Sunset Beacon—had been diagnosed with aggressive cancer and was entering hospice care to transition at his home, it came as a shock to media-watchers across the city.
(A GoFundMe has been set up where you can find out more about his situation and help his family and friends care for him. You can read some of Michael’s words as he bravely faces this here.)
Despite his illness, both papers have still put out on time, covering a broad swath of the city with depth and heart. As recently as last month, he worked with a coalition of local, independent outlets like 48 Hills to present a packed San Francisco congressional candidate forum, at which the hopefuls were asked questions from the point of view of neighborhood and community publications, who are much more in touch with the city’s everyday concerns than the big corporate chains. He wanted the voices of the people in his neighborhoods to be heard.
That’s the other thing it takes to run a neighborhood paper: love. At least to me—and I count him high among the people I have looked up to in this biz—Michael has not at all fit the stereotypical image of a hard-driving, profanity-spewing publisher, just one three-martini lunch from a fall from grace. Instead, he’s been more like a gentle giant/real sweet guy, a talented musician, photographer, and mentor who’s always greeted me with a hug, often excitedly telling me about a young local journalist whose work has been blowing him away.
Spending his early life as a photographer and event producer who traveled the world, Michael, 70, took over both newspapers from founder and west side legend Paul Kozakiewicz in 2019, after working for him as a writer, photographer, and editor—right in the continuing digital deluge (he’s the one who got both publications online), and just before COVID hit. For the past seven years, he’s kept the paper on the stands and several local media people employed. It was a heroic act: The amount of care that takes is enormous.
It has just been announced that features editor Megan Roberson will take over both papers. From the Sunset Dunes kerfuffle and looming D4 supervisor election to the thriving arts and food scene out that way, the Outside Lands neighborhoods are an essential part of the city that deserve the deep coverage Michael has valiantly continued so far. Please donate to the GoFundMe if you can.
