How to Read Between the Lines: A Guide to Some of The Chronicle's Special Services
The San Francisco Chronicle receives thousands of calls and letters from readers who have questions about how to interact with the newspaper and how to access the services we offer. This section provides answers to many questions asked by readers.
Send a brief, typed release directly to the editor of the section in which your story or event should appear as far in advance as possible. Please use the above mailing address. Include a name and phone number to call if we need more information. Urgent news should be called in directly to our City Desk at (415) 777-7100. Only "breaking" stories will be taken over the phone.
If you would like to submit an opinion piece for publication, please see our page on Chronicle Submissions.
If you have comments on The Chronicle's coverage, standards or accuracy, please call Dick Rogers, the readers' representative, at (415) 777-7870. Written comments can be e-mailed to readerrep@sfchronicle.com, faxed to (415) 442-1847, or addressed to Readers' Representative, c/o San Francisco Chronicle, 901 Mission St., San Francisco, CA 94103. For information on delivery, billing or how to become a subscriber, call (800) 281-2476.
To obtain permission to reprint a Chronicle staff-written story, please contact the Copyright Clearance Center via the Internet. The address of their web site is www.copyright.com.
Most public libraries provide access to the Internet, if you do not have access at your home, school or office. After registering on the web, you will be able to access the Republication Licensing Service.
If you would like more information about the service, click on "services" and then "Republication Licensing Service" and then "user benefits." Also, you can get answers to frequently asked questions if you click on "help" and then "Republication Licensing Service."
If you have trouble using the service, please call Copyright Clearance Center at (978) 750-8400.
For Chronicle photo reprints and permissions for personal use: 415-777-7850
For Chronicle photo reprints and permissions for commercial use: 415-777-8428
For Chronicle graphics reprints and permissions contact: 415-777-6003
For any other questions on Article Reprint Permissions call (415) 777-6225
For use of the Chronicle logo, its content or related images for television or motion pictures: Public Relations 415-777-6174
You may link to staff written articles on our web site at www.sfgate.com without permission and at no charge to you.
At the counter:
Address: 100 Fifth Street, San Francisco (corner of Mission)
Hours: Monday - Friday, 8:30am-4:30pm
ONLY THE PAST THIRTY DAYS ARE AVAILABLE AT THE COUNTER.
Cash payment is preferred.
Daily Chronicle cost is $.50 each.
Sunday Chronicle costs $1.50 each.
Sunday Magazine can be purchased separately for $1.00.
We accept checks for bulk orders only.
We cannot accept credit card payment for back issues.
For papers older than 30 days, or for help in searching for specific articles, please try the public library, or the SF Gate online archives, located here.
Papers are sold in their entirety.
Due to space limitations, we carry ONLY THE SAN FRANCISCO EDITIONS of the Chronicle. Sorry, we are unable to provide back issues of the Peninsula, East Bay or other editions of our papers.
We cannot provide tearsheets or handle tearsheet requests at the counter.
The counter handles in-person sales of back issues only.
We are limited in space and cannot accommodate large orders (e.g., more than 5 copies of a specific issue of the paper).
By mail:
Back issues for the past 90 days are available by mail.
Address:
San Francisco Chronicle
Attn: Back Copies
P.O. Box 7228
San Francisco CA 94120
Checks should be made payable to the San Francisco Chronicle.
Daily Chronicle cost is $2.00 each.
Sunday Chronicle costs $4.00 each.
The Chronicle Magazine can be purchased separately for $2.00 each.
Include a note listing the number of issues for each date desired.
Fedex requests: Call 415-777-6833 and leave your name and number. Someone will contact you.
If you see a photo by a Chronicle photographer that you would like to have for personal use, send a letter of request to the Attention of Photo Sales at the address above. Include your name, address, phone number, a photocopy of the picture (noting the date and page of publication) and a check made out to The San Francisco Chronicle. 8-1/2x11 prints are $45 for black-and-white or color. This service usually takes four weeks. For commercial use or permission to use a photo, please call (415) 777-8428.
A death notice is a paid listing, often provided for you by the attending mortuary. If the mortuary does not place the death notice, you can place one yourself via any of the following methods: 1) Fax your notice to 415-348-3080; 2) email your notice to forddesk@sfchronicle.com; 3) Mail your notice to Ford Desk, San Francisco Chronicle, 901 Mission St. San Francisco CA 94103. All notices must be typed. WHEN YOU SUBMIT: Please provide: Your name, address, phone number & the name and city of the funeral home or cremation society. This is for verification purposes only. (Omission of any of this information will delay publication). DEADLINES FOR PUBLICATION: 3:00pm the day before RATES: $6.70 per line (one day) $5.69 per line per day (two consecutive days) $4.54 per line per day (three or more consecutive days) ALL OF THE ABOVE RATES ARE PER BILLING LINE PER DAY. A billing line is equal to approximately 30 letters, spaces and punctuation. After 12 lines, billing is calculated by total space, known as "Billing Lines". This may or may not coincide with the actual number of printed lines.
The deadline for submitting photos is 3 PM the day before publication of the notice. (Photo and copy are required at this time). These notices are billed at $6.44 per line for a one time placement. The photo alone will be a minimum of 28 lines. The cost of the text will be additional. (Text must be included). Please include your name, address and phone number for billing and the name of the mortuary or cremation service handling arrangements for verification. (Omission of any of the above information will delay publication.) When choosing a photo we suggest a sharp, good quality photo with no shadows on the face. Please don't crop the photo as we will do that. If more than one person is in the photo please indicate which one is the deceased. Photos may be emailed by scanning the photo at a minimum of 300dpi and sent as a tif or jpg to forddesk@sfchronicle.com. These can also be mailed or delivered to: Ford Desk c/o Classified Counter, 100 5th St. (5th & Mission Sts.), San Francisco CA 94103. Photos cannot be received on weekends or holidays.
For further information. call the Ford Desk at (415) 615-3554. However, notices cannot be phoned in to the Ford Desk. The Ford Desk does not handle Editorial Obituaries (see below).
The Chronicle welcomes timely news obituary information and photos from family, friends, and funeral homes. These obituaries which run free of charge, are written by our staff with information gathered from relatives and our own research. Because of space limitations, obituaries with the broadest community interest are most likely to be selected for publication.
To contact obituary writers or for more information:
The Chronicle's Newspaper-in-Education program is a great way for teachers to put extra learning power into the classroom at a very low cost. Participating NIE teachers are offered choices of curriculum guides that provide stimulating, fun and educational projects using the newspaper. For more information, please call the Chronicle Newspaper-in-Education department at (415) 777-6828.
If you're selling a house, a car, or other merchandise or services, a Classified ad can get your message to Northern California's largest newspaper audience. Just call The Chronicle at (415) 777-7777 to place an ad — and be sure to ask about SuperSaver rates.
Yes. While there is no Federal Law requiring the use of
recycled newsprint, California state law mandates that 50%
of the newsprint used must contain at least 40% recycled
fiber content. For 2003, we are projected to (again) meet
the 50% goal. 2001 was the last year in the gradual increase
of state mandated recycled content. The state requirements
for previous years were:
- 30% in 1994
- 35% in 1996
- 40% in 1998
- 45% in 2000
- 50% in 2001
- 50% in 2002
The San Francisco Chronicle is produced using the flexographic
printing process. The "flexographic" process, unlike the "offset"
process used by the majority of other papers (USA Today, NY Times,
LA Times, etc.) is known for it's inherent environmental benefits.
These benefits include (a) the use of water based inks (eliminating
the need for petroleum-based cleaners and extenders, eliminating ink
rub-off and set-off, reduced show through, etc.) and (b) the ability
to use lighter basis-weight (thinner) newsprint. Offset uses 30lb
and 32lb newsprint, while flexo uses 27.7lb newsprint.
Our newsprint comes from the Pacific Northwest and Canada, and it is
produced from wood chips and other by-products of the lumber/timber
industries. Trees are not cut-down specifically for newsprint.
As stated earlier, our ink is water-based and is environmentally
friendly. The pigments used to color the inks are free of heavy
metals and toxic products. We are completely safe to use as compost.
At this time, the Chronicle does not collect used newspaper bags.
If you have any suggestions for how to reuse the bags or places that
recycle them, please write to support@sfgate.com
Some readers tell us that they reuse the bags in the following ways:
doggie pickup
collecting and disposing of snails and slugs from their yard
taking home food scraps from their work place for their compost and/or
worm bins
The poly news bags used by The San Francisco Chronicle are designed to
protect the newspaper, assuring that it arrives to customers dry and
protected from the elements. The plastic used has to be able to draw down
to the thin gauge films used in news bags, and withstand certain abrasion
and impact stresses due to the newspaper being thrown from moving cars and
skidding along a driveway.
The Chronicle bags are classified with the recycling code (4) LDPE (Low
Density Polyethylene). Used in many film applications, this plastics
family includes the LDPE's (Linear Low Density Polyethylene) that are
used to produce the poly news bags, garbage bags and ice cream container
lids.
LDPE's (4) provide the best combination of the toughness, abrasion
resistance, elasticity, and excellent seal strength needed for news bags.
Unfortunately, many Bay Area recycling programs will not accept (4) LDPE
materials. The more commonly recyclable bags are (2) HDPE. These can be
tough, but have a tendency to straight-line tear (once a hole starts, it
tends to increase rapidly in size), and are limited in the amount of
weight they will hold for a high-impact use like news bags. HDPE can also
tend to be weak at the seal. The LDPE's (4) are the industry standard for
the newspaper poly bags.
Discover for yourself why The Chronicle is Northern California's largest newspaper. It can all be yours — every day — if you call 1-800-CHRONICLE, or fill out our e-mail form: Subscribe on-line.
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