49ers coach Kyle Shanahan badly injured in car crash
San Francisco Chronicle • • sports
Key Points:
- St. John "Sinjin" Barned-Smith is a member of the Chronicle's breaking news team with a background that includes work at the Philadelphia Daily News, Peace Corps service in Paraguay, and coverage of major events like floods and mass shootings; he joined Hearst Newspapers in 2014 and has received multiple state and national awards.
- Sinjin currently resides in San Francisco with his dog, Scoop, and can be contacted via email at stjohn.smith@sfchronicle.com.
- Eric Branch has covered the San Francisco 49ers for the Chronicle since 2011, with prior experience covering the team at the Santa Rosa Press Democrat in 2010, and is a UCLA graduate recognized with nine national APSE awards.
- Branch was a finalist for the 2024 California Sportswriter of the Year award and won a 2023 first-place feature writing award from the Pro Football Writers of America, highlighting his story on team pastor Earl Smith.
- Before focusing on the 49ers, Eric Branch covered diverse events and worked at several newspapers across the country, and was noted in the “Best American Sports Writing 2001” for his column on small-town sportswriting.
