Freelance Multimedia Journalist
January 2023
Banker turned entrepreneur, Adam Mesnick serves more than fresh, handcrafted sandwiches. Owner of Deli Board in San Francisco's SOMA (South of Market) district, dozens line up daily for his gourmet goods. Food aside, his reputation stretches far beyond his delicious menu.
Located in a neighborhood that has long been notorious for drug dealing and consumption in the city and Bay Area, he's seen the drug trade and death itself years before the fentanyl epidemic. Notoriously known as BetterSOMA on X (formerly Twitter), he has followers in the thousands. His posts are raw and scathing snapshots of what he firmly asserts are the undeniable and detrimental impacts of untreated mental illness, drug abuse and civic neglect combined.
As a self-identified liberal or politically moderate at best, Adam was adamant on never appearing on Fox News. In the wake of the fentanyl epidemic, that changed. Although social media has always been his megaphone to protest against City Hall and their over expenditures, Adam agreed to an interview on the condition that he was able to assert his political neutrality and emphasize the carnage caused by the drug epidemic and political corruption.
During Adam's interview with Jessie Waters, they featured a clip I took of a man in downtown San Francisco being resuscitated from what paramedics thought was a drug overdose. The man was literally at death's door short of stepping in. He was so unconscious, paramedics were literally prying his eyes open without waking him from his stupor. Thankfully the man eventually came to and didn't contribute to the skyrocketing stats of overdoses that year.
Not all views expressed and stories broadcasted on Fox News beyond this segment are shared or endorsed by me.
June 2021
During the COVID-19 lockdown, San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) parents were fed up with the pace of plans to reopen public schools. They mobilized against S.F.’s elected school board, arguing it gave priority to social justice issues over returning to classrooms. A formal effort was launched to recall three members of the school board.
The parent activism was the latest development in the escalating S.F. schools-reopening saga. Public schools had been shut down since March 2021, and negotiations between the local teachers union and district remained at an impasse despite S.F.'s low Covid-19 rates compared to other major U.S. cities.
Among the army of volunteer parent volunteers signature gatherers for the ballot initiative was Man Kit Lam. In 2023, Lam began his new position as S.F. Supervisor Joel Engardino's Legislative Aide. In a story I first broke on X (previously Twitter), then The San Francisco Standard (formerly HereSay Media), I captured Lam's face off with a ballot thief. The thief, later confirmed by his employer as Jason Kruta, posed as an interested constituent. In reality, Kruta was intent on voter suppression. At just the right moment, Kruta snatched a clipboard of signatures and casually wandered off. Little did Kruta know the repercussions that would follow his interference of a democratic, parent-backed initiative to save the education of minors throughout San Francisco.
Shortly after HereSay's coverage, ABC7 Bay Area dove in...
...followed by the San Francisco Chronicle
... KTVU
... and Zenger news.
Nov. 2019
Bay Area Rapid Transit aka BART has been continuously plagued with crimes and scrutinized for lack of safety. Crimes include robberies, rape, fare evasion, and even murder. To top this off was an incident involving a sandwich. A viral video was captured by a passenger's girlfriend that felt racially targeted by BART Police for violating a no food ordinance. When the video aired on NBC Bay Area news, the same footage from their segment on JDLRs on BART that featured my footage from Mar. 2019 was used. The clips from Mar. 2019 included a man shaving his head with electric clippers and passengers using intravenous drugs while aboard.
Aug. 2019
Amidst continued unrest between rideshare providers Lyft, Uber, and their employees as tensions rippled throughout the country over Assembly Bill 5 (AB5), 2023 U.S. Secretary of Transportation, then Mayor and Democratic Presidential Candidate Pete Buttigieg made a surprise appearance. Outside Uber's San Francisco headquarters during a nationwide protest, Buttigieg spoke about the gig economy. He sided with the embattled workers and their fight to be deemed as employees vs contractors. My video coverage of his speech was featured in SF Gate alongside other local media outlets including KTVU Fox 2.
Aug. 2019
Shots were fired Tuesday as I walked the heavily trekked Market St. in downtown San Francisco, Ca. What I thought was horseplay with illegal firecrackers was actually a barrage of bullets fired from both sides of the street. Amidst terrorized pedestrians running and continued gunfire steps away, I calmly ducked to record this life-threatening incident. I then called 911. I successfully walked away unscathed and with my life. I shared the breaking news with my connections at ABC7. Unlike previous times, I refrained from publishing the video immediately on social media. The broadcast went viral as FOX2, KRON4, KPIX, NBC 11 and FOX News lined up for an interview and/or to purchase a copy. The suspects were captured within a week.
Aug. 2019
Sirens blared unusually more one Saturday night in San Francisco's Tenderloin District--a crime ridden neighborhood adjacent to the city's tourist and shopping mecca, Union Square. They triggered my instincts, leading me to discover and record breaking news, S.F.'s 15th fatal car accident before other news outlets arrived. According to a witness I interviewed, a taxi driver who was NOT speeding fatally struck a jaywalking senior. Reports later revealed the victim, age 71, was amongst the many in the Chinese community that routinely scoured for recyclables in trash bins throughout S.F. They earn pennies on the dollar from returning bottles and cans they collect. The record-breaking number of pedestrian deaths by vehicle had become an increasingly urgent matter for local politicians including then District Supervisor Matt Haney. Due to the lack of media coverage, KTVU (Fox 2) interviewed me for eyewitness testimony and to use my footage.
Jun. 2019:
MoveOn.org hosted an event titled #Big Ideas during the 2019 Democratic National Convention in San Francisco, CA. Eight of the Democratic presidential candidates staged their pitch including then S.F. District Attorney turned California Attorney General; now Vice President Kamala Harris. Midway through, Direct Action Everywhere Animal Rights Activist Aidan Cook jumped on stage, grabbed the mike, and stole the spotlight. I successfully captured the moment and later interviewed the him. The video, especially that with Cook, went viral in less than 24 hours.
Unique to my coverage was the commentary I captured from a fellow local attendee. Soon thereafter, other media outlets caught on to my coverage:
Mar. 2019:
NBC Bay Area scheduled an exclusive interview with me on my BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) JDLR experience one afternoon. This video garnered attention for its oddity. I shared it to document the train of hazardous and behaviors BART passengers encountered regularly, issues the agency continually struggles to address. The video went viral in a few hours.
As the day progressed, the momentum picked up as other local and international media outlets caught on:
Jan. 29, 2019:
One morning, I spotted a coyote on City College of San Francisco's Ocean campus. I captured this JDLR shortly after realizing it was NOT a dog. The coyote's comeback was featured on KTVU's (Fox) evening news segment.
Dec. 28-30 2018:
During another grocery trip in downtown San Francisco, CA, I encountered an active Attempted Murder and Robbery in broad daylight. Two men viciously roughhousing just didn't look right. Interviewing others, I learned the fight was over stolen property. As the brutality escalated, pleas to cease and assertions of 911 being called were made but police arrived too late. I recorded it all from a short distance. Thankfully my video and cooperation with local police led to the arrest of suspect Melton Kelly within 24 hours of posting. Tips poured in from the community after SFPD blasted still images of Kelly on their Twitter page.
Mar. 2019:
The original footage I captured was used as key prosecutorial evidence by the San Francisco District Attorney in the case against the suspect, M. Kelley on the charges of Attempted Homicide.
Dec. 13, 2018:
The San Francisco Police Department investigated a series of emailed bomb threats demanding bitcoin payment received at locations across the Bay Area and country. By the afternoon, authorities were reporting that the bomb threats appear to be a hoax. One threat included the Marines Memorial Club in San Francisco that led to it's evacuation. My timely capture of the incident captured the eye of Spectee Inc. & other media outlets.
Nov. 2018:
Thousands of Google workers protested the company’s handling of company-wide sexual harassment in a coordinated protest from its headquarters in Mountain View and internationally. Workers were irate about the lax approach to sexual misconduct complaints. In San Francisco, Google employees marched along the Embarcadero.
The deadly Camp Fire in Butte County emitted thick smoke throughout San Francisco. I photographed the impacts on our air quality for local residents. One photo included a selfie of me bearing my facial mask in downtown San Francisco at Powell and Market St. right at the iconic Cable Car Turnaround. My picture caught the eye of ABC News. Another was one of myself in front of another local landmark, the Ferry Building which nabbed the attention of NBC News. They used my photos across their various news platforms across the country:
Oct. 2018:
Beginning in October, over 2,500 employees at San Francisco’s seven Marriott Hotel locations joined a national strike. There were a combined 7,700 workers that walked out of their jobs in S.F., to Detroit. Below are some of the daring tactics I captured of which local strikers employed to create chaos, garner attention and ultimately win their fight.
