A philanthropic push to rescue San Francisco Chronicle

Amid growing community concern over the future of The Chronicle, San Francisco financier Warren Hellman gathered a group of local powerbrokers this week, including Mayor Gavin Newsom, to discuss the idea of restructuring the newspaper as a primarily philanthropic venture. Any changes to the paper would require the involvement of the owner, Hearst Corp, which hasn't indicated any interest. Among ideas floated at the meeting were converting the newspaper into a nonprofit or into what's known as an L3C, a low-profit limited liability company whose main role is helping society rather than making money, according to several attendees. There also was some talk of using existing newsroom staff and resources to form a separate, nonprofit online media operation covering the area.