San Francisco Chronicle Magazine

In 2000, "India: Land of Marx and Maharjahs," by free-lance writer Adam Hochschild was given the Sigma Delta Chi Award for excellence in magazine reporting by the Society of Professional Journalists and a bronze medal from the Society of American Travel Writers' Lowell Thomas Awards for magazine writing on foreign travel.

At the time of these awards, Executive Editor of the Examiner Phil Bronstein said, "The San Francisco Examiner Magazine has become one of the top Sunday newspaper magazines in the country, offering our readers well-written and provocative articles accompanied by attractive, witty and sophisticated graphics.

[10] In 1998, the Examiner's magazine won four SunMag awards from the Sunday Magazine Editors Association: first place in Best Use of Illustration to Art Director Josephine Rigg and freelance illustrator Adam McCauley for a Bay to Breakers Race Day Map; third place in Overall Design to Rigg and Associate Art Director Zahid Sardar; Honorable Mention to Examiner Science Writer Keay Davidson for "Weird Science," about the 50th anniversary of the first "UFO sighting"'; Honorable Mention to writer Neal Gabler for a cover story about Walter Winchell and Herb Caen.

Critic Greil Marcus said of Image that it was "the most consistently high-quality, surprising, challenging arts and politics magazine the Bay Area has had in my memory.

"[13] In 2001 the magazine underwent a redesign as part of a general overhaul of the Sunday edition of the Chronicle with the professed goal, "to put [readers] in touch with where [they] live, and... to celebrate and highlight the rich tapestry of diversity that makes us unique."

[16] According to published letters in the Chronicle, the 2003 redesign was quite popular among readers, with many specifically hailing the return of Reagle's crossword puzzle.

This redesign brought several new features to the magazine: Tripping, a travel column; Perspectives, an expert advice column; Healthy Obsessions, featuring local athletes; Take Two, a design column by Design Editor Zahid Sardar; Bright Ideas by Sam Whiting, exploring new ideas in the Bay Area; On the Couch, about how couples met, which later moved to the Style section of the Chronicle, before eventually being discontinued.

Each issue of the new magazine would focus on a single subject such as home design, travel, food or weddings.

[20] In contrast to the 2003 redesign, readers widely panned the magazine's move to monthly publication in published letters to the Chronicle.