Overview of the Online Standard News Organization

The San Francisco Standard was originally Here/Say Media, a project of Civic Action Labs, a 501(c)4 nonprofit. Some journalism ethicists were concerned about the organization's structure (nearly all nonprofit journalism organizations are 501(c)3 nonprofits) and refusal to disclose its donors. In March 2021, Here/Say disclosed on its website that it was funded by Crankstart, a foundation funded by Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman. In August 2021, Here/Say wrote that it had incorporated into an independent, for-profit entity, and that Moritz and Heyman had invested $10 million.

In November 2021, Here/Say Media announced that that the organization changed its name to The San Francisco Standard.

In December 2021, the Standard partnered with ABC 7 to cover the 2022 California's 17th State Assembly district special election.

The San Francisco Standard's voter poll was featured in news coverage on the recall election of progressive San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin. In May 2022, the Standard published a story showing that Boudin's office secured three convictions for drug dealing in 2021, whereas Boudin's predecessor George Gascon oversaw over 90 convictions in 2018. Instead, Boudin's office emphasized convictions for a different crime which would not penalize foreign nationals with deportation or threats to naturalization. The story generated secondary coverage in the National Review, Washington Monthly and Courthouse News Service.

In October 2022, editor-in-chief Jonathan Weber resigned, citing differences with chief executive Griffin Gaffney