Media in San Diego
San Diego is a Southern California city with a population of over 1.4 million; the San Diego metropolitan area has over 3.3 million residents. It has a daily newspaper and other print and online publications, and multiple TV and radio stations. As the city is adjacent to the Mexico–United States border, its residents are also able to receive media from Tijuana, Mexico.
Newspapers
- The San Diego Union-Tribune is the city's primary newspaper, published daily.[1] The Union-Tribune was formed in 1992 through a merger of the San Diego Union (established 1868) and the San Diego Evening Tribune (established 1881).[2] The newspapers had been under common ownership since 1901.[3] The Evening-Tribune was the evening paper, while the Union was the morning paper; the Union-Tribune is a morning paper.[3] As of 2015, the Union-Tribune had won four Pulitzer Prizes and was the oldest company in continuous operation in San Diego.[4] In 2015, Tribune Publishing, which operates the Los Angeles Times and other major U.S. daily newspapers, purchased the newspaper in an $85 million deal.[4] The purchase ended 146 years of private local ownership for the paper.[4]
Other papers and news outlets published in the city include:
- La Prensa San Diego[5]
- San Diego Daily Transcript
- San Diego City Beat
- The San Diego Reader is the largest alternative weekly in the city. Founded in 1972, the paper was headquartered in Little Italy before moving to Golden Hill in 2012.[6]
- San Diego Business Journal
- The Southern Cross, the newspaper of the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego
Neighborhood newspapers include:
- Beach & Bay Press (Pacific Beach, Mission Beach and Mission Bay), published every other week[7]
- Carmel Valley News[8]
- The Clairemont Times[9]
- The Coronado Times Newspaper
- La Jolla Light[10]
- La Jolla Village News, published every other week[11]
- Mission Times Courier
- Peninsula Beacon (Ocean Beach and Point Loma), published every other week[12]
- Presidio Sentinel[13]
- Rancho Bernardo News Journal[14]
- San Diego Downtown News, published monthly[15]
- San Diego Uptown News (Bankers Hill, Balboa Park, Golden Hill, Hillcrest, Kensington, Mission Hills, Normal Heights, North Park, Old Town, South Park, Talmadge, University Heights), published monthly[16]
Magazines
Magazines published in San Diego include:
- Edible San Diego[17]
- Giving Back Magazine[18]
- Ranch & Coast[19]
- San Diego Family[20]
- San Diego Magazine
- San Diego Troubadour[21]
Online
Online-only media in San Diego include:
- Fresh Brewed Tech:
Local tech news website[22]
- inewsource
nonprofit newsroom[23]
- Patch
National network of local news sites, with operations in San Diego
- San Diego Story
Arts review website[24]
- The Times of San Diego
Web-based news outlet founded in 2014[25] that publishes daily local news for San Diego and the surrounding area.[26][27][28] According to its own reports, the site had an average of nearly 600,000 monthly unique users in 2022.[29] At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in April 2020, the site reported 1.53 million unique users.[30] Unlike some other local media startups, Times of San Diego provides full daily coverage of a large metropolitan area rather than only periodic in-depth articles. Its contributing editors have appeared on local radio programs and conducted training sessions for local journalists.[31][32][33] From 2016 to 2019, the site was named "best news site" four consecutive years by the San Diego Press Club, and its editors won multiple other awards.[34][35][36][37] The site received a grant from Google in June 2020 to expand coverage of the local impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.[38] In June 2024, Times of San Diego was acquired by the nonprofit journalism organization NEWSWELL, based at Arizona State University, as part of an initiative to support local news organizations.[39][40] (The group also acquired the Santa Barbara News-Press and the Stockton-based news site Stocktonia.) Following the acquisition, Times of San Diego editor and general manager Chris Jennewein said the newsroom expanded its staff and increased output to as many as 30 articles per day.[41] In May 2025, the site incorporated sections from the San Diego Community Newspaper Group, bringing coverage from seven weekly and biweekly community newspapers into its website and related newsletters. This expanded its hyperlocal reporting within the region.[42] In September 2025, veteran journalist Andrew Keatts was appointed editor and general manager, succeeding Jennewein, who remained with the site in a community partnerships role. Keatts indicated plans to broaden coverage with additional features and investigative reporting.[43]
- Voice of San Diego (Voiceofsandiego.org)
Non-profit news outlet in San Diego that reports on the city.[44] A Web-only local outlet, Voice of San Diego was founded in 2005,[45] one of a number of such publications that emerged around that time in responsive to cutbacks in traditional local print newspapers.[46][47][48] The site is known for both its news coverage and local investigative reporting.[45][48][49] The website is partially funded by grants, but is financed primarily on a paid membership model. In 2016, Voice of San Diego launched the News Revenue Hub, a pilot project aimed at helping other nonprofit news organizations adopt its model. Members of the pilot include Honolulu Civil Beat, InsideClimate News, The Lens, and New Jersey Spotlight.[50][51][52] It has won a variety of local journalism awards from the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists (for reports exposing corruption at San Diego Unified School District)[53] and from the San Diego Press Club.[54][55]
- Vanguard Culture
Nonprofit arts and culture website[56]
- Water News Network
Specialized newsroom operated by the San Diego County Water Authority.[57]
Radio
San Diego is a principal city of the San Diego radio market. In its Fall 2013 ranking of radio markets by population, Arbitron ranked the San Diego market 17th in the United States. The market only covers San Diego County.[58]
The following is a list of radio stations which broadcast from and/or are licensed to San Diego:
AM
FM
| Frequency, MHz | Subchannel type | Callsign[61]/Subchannel name | Format[60] | City of License | Notes | Ownership |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 88.3 | Analog | KSDS | Jazz | San Diego, California | - | San Diego City College |
| 88.5 | Analog | XHKT-FM | News/talk/Spanish Regional Mexican | Tecate, Baja California | La Super KT | California Medios |
| 88.7 | Analog | XHITT | Freeform | Tijuana, Baja California | Radio Technological | - |
| 89.5 | Analog/HD1 | KPBS-FM | Public radio | San Diego, California | NPR | SDSU |
| HD2 | Classical San Diego Archived 2011-05-14 at the Wayback Machine | Classical music | Classical 24 | |||
| HD3 | Groove Salad | Downtempo/chillout | SomaFM | |||
| 90.3 | Analog | XHITZ | Contemporary hit radio | Tijuana, Baja California | Z90 | Local Media San Diego |
| 90.7 | Analog | XHTIM | Regional Mexican | Tijuana, Baja California | La Mejor | MVS Communications |
| 91.1 | Analog | XETRA | Classic alternative | Tijuana, Baja California | 91X | Local Media San Diego |
| 91.7 | Analog | XHGLX | Spanish Contemporary | Tijuana, Baja California | Ponte EXA-FM | MVS Communications |
| 92.1 | Analog | KARJ | Worship music | Escondido, California | Air1 | Educational Media Foundation |
| 92.5 | Analog | XHRM | Rhythmic Adult Contemporary | Tijuana, Baja California | Magic 92.5 | Local Media San Diego |
| 93.3 | Analog/HD1 | KHTS | Rhythmic Contemporary | El Cajon, California | Channel 93.3 | iHeartMedia |
| HD2 | Pride Radio | Dance | - | |||
| 94.1 | Analog/HD1 | KMYI | Hot adult contemporary | San Diego, California | Star 94.1 | iHeartMedia |
| HD2 | 600 KOGO | News/talk | KOGO simulcast | |||
| 94.5 | Analog | XHA | Regional Mexican | Tijuana, Baja California | La Invasora | Grupo Uniradio |
| 94.9 | Analog/HD1 | KBZT | Alternative rock | San Diego, California | ALT 94/9 | Audacy, Inc. |
| HD3 | Glow | Dance | ||||
| 95.3 | Analog | XHHIT | Spanish Adult Hits | Tecate, Baja California | La Lupe | Multimedios Radio |
| 95.7 | Analog | KSSX | Urban Contemporary | Carlsbad, California | Jam'n 95.7 | iHeartMedia |
| 96.1 | Analog | KYDO | Worship music | Campo, California | Air 1 | EMF |
| 96.5 | Analog/HD1 | KYXY | Adult contemporary | San Diego, California | KyXy | Audacy, Inc. |
| 97.3 | Analog/HD1 | KWFN | Sports | San Diego, California | 97.3 The Fan | Audacy, Inc. |
| HD3 | The Bet | Sports gambling | ||||
| 98.1 | Analog/HD1 | KXSN | Classic hits | San Diego, California | Sunny 98.1 | Audacy, Inc. |
| HD3 | Channel Q | LGBTQ Talk/EDM | ||||
| 98.9 | Analog | XHMORE | Regional Mexican | Tijuana, Baja California | La Calurosa | Esquina 32 Radio |
| 99.3 | Analog | XHOCL | Spanish Adult Contemporary | Tijuana, Baja California | FM Globo | MVS Radio |
| 99.7 | Analog | XHTY | Regional Mexican | Tijuana, Baja California | La Invasora | Grupo Uniradio |
| 100.1 | Analog | KKLJ | Spanish Christian | Julian, California | Radio Nueva Vida | EMF |
| 100.7 | Analog | KFBG | Regional Mexican | San Diego, California | Frontera 100.7 | Lotus Communications |
| 101.5 | Analog/HD1 | KGB-FM | Classic rock | San Diego, California | - | iHeartMedia |
| HD2 | - | Sports | KGB simulcast | |||
| 102.1 | Analog | KLVJ | Contemporary Christian | Encinitas, California | K-Love | EMF |
| 102.5 | Analog | XHUAN | Electronic Music | Tijuana, Baja California | Fusion FM | IMER |
| 102.9 | Analog | KLQV | Spanish Adult Contemporary | San Diego, California | Amor 102.9 | Univision Radio |
| 103.7 | Analog | KSON | Country music | San Diego, California | KSON 103.7 | Audacy, Inc. |
| 104.5 | Analog | XHLTN | Spanish Contemporary | Tijuana, Baja California | Radio Latina | Grupo Imagen |
| 104.9 | Analog | XHLNC | Regional Mexican | Tecate, Baja California | La Numero Uno | - |
| 105.3 | Analog/HD1 | KIOZ | Mainstream rock | San Diego, California | Rock 105.3 | iHeartMedia |
| 105.7 | Analog | XHPRS | Spanish Contemporary | Tecate, Baja California | Suave | Primer Sistema de Noticias |
| 106.5 | Analog | KLNV | Regional Mexican | San Diego, California | Que Buena | Univision Radio |
| 107.3 | Analog | XHFG | Spanish Contemporary | Tijuana, Baja California | Pulsar FM | Grupo Uniradio |
| 107.7 | Analog | XHRST | Spanish Adult Hits | Tijuana, Baja California | El Sol | MLC Media |
Television
The San Diego television market only includes San Diego County. The city is the headquarters of the privately held Herring Networks, which owns the AWE Network and One America News Network cable channels.
The following is a list of television stations that broadcast from and/or are licensed to San Diego.
References
- ^ "San Diego Union Tribune". Mondo Times. Retrieved August 8, 2014.
- ^ Paul T. Hellmann, Historical Gazetteer of the United States (Routledge, 2005), pp. 109-110.
- ^ a b Elizabeth A. Brennan & Elizabeth C. Clarage, Who's Who of Pulitzer Prize Winners (Oryx, 1992), p. 371.
- ^ a b c Dan McSwain, $85M deal to combine U-T, LA Times, San Diego Union-Tribune (May 7, 2015).
- ^ "About LPSD – La Prensa San Diego". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ Roger Showley, San Diego Reader moving to Golden Hill San Diego Union-Tribune (May 31, 2012).
- ^ "San Diego Community News Group - Local News, Classifieds, Businesses and Events in San Diego, La Jolla, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, and Mission Beach, California". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "Carmel Valley News". Del Mar Times. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "About | The Clairemont Times". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "La Jolla News". La Jolla Light. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "San Diego Community News Group - Local News, Classifieds, Businesses and Events in San Diego, La Jolla, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, and Mission Beach, California". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "San Diego Community News Group - Local News, Classifieds, Businesses and Events in San Diego, La Jolla, Ocean Beach, Pacific Beach, and Mission Beach, California". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "About Us : Presidio Sentinel". July 11, 2011. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "Pomerado News Homepage". Pomerado News. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
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- ^ "About Ranch & Coast — San Diego's Luxury Lifestyle Magazine". Ranch & Coast Magazine. Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "San Diego Family Magazine | Educational Information & Resources". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "San Diego Troubadour turns 10 with a splash - The San Diego Union-Tribune". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
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- ^ "About Us". inewsource. Retrieved October 9, 2021.
- ^ "OUR HISTORY – San Diego Story". Retrieved October 10, 2021.
- ^ "Hyperlocal Lives! Chris Jennewein On 'Times of San Diego'". localonliner.com.
- ^ Hall, Matthew T. (May 16, 2014). "Prospect of arson stokes fear, suspicion in San Diego". San Diego Union-Tribune.
Initial reports in small news outlets such as the Times of San Diego....
- ^ Warth, Gary (December 23, 2015). "Imagery used in Islamophobia protest causes stir". San Diego Union-Tribune.
In a Times of San Diego article published before the controversy,...
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The Union-Tribune covered his speech and The Times of San Diego posted a recording of the event online.
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- ^ Jennewein, Chris. "COVID-19 News Coverage Draws 1.5 Million Readers to Times of San Diego in April". timesofsandiego.com.
- ^ "Word Press Tips and Tricks with Chris Jennewein". sdpressclub.org. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019.
- ^ "Periscope up for dozens who attend panel discussion". sdpressclub.org. Archived from the original on February 25, 2019.
- ^ Finn, Pat (May 15, 2015). "Roundtable talks drought". kpbs.org.
- ^ "Times of San Diego Named a CA Small Business of the Year". timesofsandiego.com. May 25, 2016.
- ^ "46th Annual Excellence in Journalism Awards" (PDF). sdpressclub.org.
- ^ "Times of San Diego Named Top News Site at Press Club Awards". timesofsandiego.com. October 25, 2016.
- ^ "Times of San Diego Named 'Best News Site' 4th Year in Row at Press Club Awards". timesofsandiego.com. October 29, 2019.
- ^ Jennewein, Chris (June 21, 2020). "Google Grant Helps Times of San Diego Cover Region's Reopening from Pandemic". timesofsandiego.com.
- ^ Watson, Lauren (February 10, 2025). "Back to School: Local newsrooms are donating themselves to Arizona State in exchange for administrative support". Columbia Journalism Review.
- ^ Lewis, Scott (June 7, 2024). "Arizona State University Acquires San Diego News Site". Voice of San Diego.
- ^ Reinhart, Katelyn (January 22, 2025). "Recently launched NEWSWELL supports local news outlets to empower communities, transform local news industry: Knight Foundation gives $5 million grant to the nonprofit, which has acquired 3 California news organizations". ASU News.
- ^ "Times of San Diego website relaunches with sections for 7 trusted community newspapers". Business. Times of San Diego. May 21, 2025.
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- ^ Eric Wolff, MEDIA: Nonprofit news website voiceofsandiego.org lays off three reporters, San Diego Union-Tribune (December 9, 2011).
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- ^ "Winners of San Diego SPJ's 2016 Contest". Society of Professional Journalists San Diego.
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