By Robert Haugh
If you read Monday’s Mercury News story by reporter Caelyn Pender about Jim Mercurio being charged in an alleged $1.4 million kickback scheme, you might miss one of the most important facts about him:
Mercurio spent nearly 30 years with the San Francisco 49ers.
He wasn’t simply the “former manager of Levi’s Stadium,” as the Mercury News headline described him.
At the end of the article, Pender writes that “In his role as general manager, where he was managed by the San Francisco 49ers he oversaw contracts and expenses paid for by Santa Clara.”
Mercurio was a longtime 49ers executive who eventually became Executive Vice President and General Manager of Levi’s Stadium.
Yet the Mercury News headline Monday was:
“Former manager of Levi’s Stadium accused of embezzling $1.4 million of San Mateo County taxpayer funds.”
The story’s opening paragraph also described Mercurio as the former general manager of Levi’s Stadium, rather than emphasizing his three decades with the 49ers.
Compare that with SFGATE story from a few days ago, which was written by Bay Area News Service and ran the headline:
“Former 49ers Executive Charged In Alleged $1.4M Kickback Scheme.”
Its opening sentence identified Mercurio as a former 49ers executive. Just a few paragraphs later, readers learned that Mercurio spent nearly 30 years with the team before being laid off in 2023.
The Palo Alto Daily Post also highlighted his 49ers career in their story’s headline:
“Los Altos resident and former 49ers executive arrested in San Mateo County Events Center scheme”
The San Francisco Chronicle has been the paper of record for the 49ers problems in Santa Clara.
When the 49ers replaced Mercurio in 2023, reporters Lance Williams and Ron Kroichick prominently described him in their exclusive story as a 30-year employee who ran stadium operations at Candlestick Park and Levi’s Stadium.
For longtime SCNO readers, the differences in news coverage are no suprise.
A Pattern of Favorable 49ers Coverage
In 2018, SCNO compared Mercury News and Chronicle coverage after Santa Clara won a major stadium rent dispute.
The Mercury focused on the approximately $300,000 annual increase in stadium rent. The Chronicle’s Phil Matier and Andy Ross explained the bigger picture: the ruling represented an estimated $180 million swing over the life of the lease.
In 2022, an SCNO opinion column criticized another Mercury News story about the settlement of a dispute over unpaid 49ers parking revenue.
The column, written by Burt Field, argued that the Mercury failed to explain that, after legal fees, Santa Clara effectively received no parking revenue from the settlement.
Then in 2024, SCNO again compared the newspapers’ treatment of a proposed 49ers legal settlement.
The Chronicle examined the team’s claim that its proposal would deliver $18 million to Santa Clara and found much of that money would actually come from Santa Clara’s own stadium funds.
The Mercury reported the team’s $18 million claim without similar analysis or fact-checking and gave the 49ers the final word.
Ethics Expert Investigating Media Influence
The pattern has attracted the attention of Dr. Tom Shanks, the former executive director of Santa Clara University’s Markkula Center for Applied Ethics.
Shanks helped establish Santa Clara’s award-winning ethics program. He has been researching how Santa Clara went from a model of ethical government to a city plagued by political corruption.
His research focuses on the 49ers, City Hall, political campaigns and local media.
In an October 2025 SCNO column, Shanks specifically criticized the Mercury News for allegedly neglecting or burying negative 49ers stories.
He also raised concerns that Mercury News publisher Sharon Ryan serves on a board alongside 49ers owner Jed York, and that the team is a major newspaper advertiser.
Shanks said he submitted documentation of his concerns to Ryan, Mercury News editorial editor Daniel Borenstein, and others. He also reported filing complaints with journalism accountability organizations.
Shanks has described this work as part of a broader ethics research project.
It looks like Shanks has more material.
Good article, but I think Jeb should always be in a orange jump suit for every cartoon. The hat and bow tie are a nice touch.
They may look foolish to people that care about Santa Clara, but I really doubt they care. They are still taking advantage of what I consider crooked money and remain fat, dumb and happy.
The Mercury probably wants to downplay their editorial that advocated the quick and dirty 2022 settlement that ended any inquiry into 49ers management of Levi’s Stadium https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/08/29/editorial-santa-clara-should-end-legal-squabble-with-the-49ers/ They, along with the council members who let Mercurio et al off the hook back then, now look pretty foolish as the public realizes how crooked this 49ers manager is.
Mr. Doyle,
Thank you for your leadership and courage. My neighbors are in the process of cancelling our subscriptions. The Mercury rarely covers Santa Clara and when they do it’s clearly biased toward the 49ers. It’s unfortunate that we don’t have a better local newspaper.