The newspaper began publication in 1979 as The Paper in the Guerneville area of western Sonoma County[2] by artist turned community journalist Nick Valentine and jazz pianist Bob Lucas.[3] Elizabeth Poole bought the struggling publication with family money shortly after its 1979 debut and owned it until its 1990 purchase by John Boland and James Carroll.[3][4]
The Paper was renamed the Sonoma County Independent in 1993 and published every other week under Boland and Carroll, who moved its offices to Santa Rosa. In 1994 the Independent was purchased by Weeklys, an independent group of three Bay Area alternative weeklies, and the publication frequency was changed to weekly.
In 2000, the newspaper was rebranded as the North Bay Bohemian and the circulation area was expanded to Marin and Napa counties.[5] In 2015, Weeklys acquired the Pacific Sun, which covered Marin County, and the Bohemian withdrew from Marin County.[6]
In September 2018, Stett Holbrook resigned as the publication's editor-in-chief.[7] In fall of 2019, longtime contributor Daedalus Howell became the editor.
Logo
The Bohemian's logo was originally designed by graphic designer Martin Venezky and later refined by typographer Jim Parkinson. It was based on the 19th Century wedge serif typeface Saracen as redrawn by Jonathan Hoefler.[8]
Awards
The Bohemian has won numerous awards for its work.
2008 Project Censored Top 25[17] for Dianne Feinstein: A Question of Ethics by Peter Byrne[18] This series was also a finalist for an award from the Investigative Reporters and Editors association.[19]
Bohemian reporters Peter Byrne and Will Carruthers won the 2020 James Madison Freedom of Information Award in the Professional Journalist category from the Society of Professional Journalists' NorCal Chapter[20] for Charity Case: Investigating PG&E-funded Rebuild North Bay Foundation.
First Place, Investigative Reporting, 2019, California Journalism Awards: Charity Case: Investigating PG&E-funded Rebuild North Bay Foundation,Peter Byrne, Will Carruthers [21]
