The Bold Italic

The Bold Italic
EditorSaul Sugarman
CategoriesSan Francisco culture
First issueSeptember 3, 2009 (2009-09-03)
CountryUnited States
Based inSan Francisco
LanguageEnglish
Websitethebolditalic.com

The Bold Italic is an online publication based in San Francisco. It was founded as an online magazine in 2009,[1] as a collaboration between design firm IDEO and media company Gannett.

Publication history

The Bold Italic was conceived in 2009 by Michael Maness, then Gannett's head of innovation, and the design firm IDEO, who set out to build a new kind of local publication driven by the personality and firsthand discoveries of San Francisco residents, rather than traditional top-down criticism.[2] "For the first couple years, there were only five of us on staff and our office was often little more than a co-working space with all of us crammed around a single table," said Jennifer Maerz, one of The Bold Italic's initial editors.[3] Eventually, The Bold Italic operated a headquarters in San Francisco's Hayes Valley neighborhood.[4] The space was designed by DIY teacher Kelly Malone, who decorated three floors and nine rooms that included a workspace, an events room, a game room, and a rec room.[4][5]

The Bold Italic covers culture, events, local businesses and news in San Francisco, and it has been popular for series such as event-based bingo cards,[6] Kid Food Reviews,[7][8][9] and Made Up Charts.[10][11] Coverage focus has been based on the city of San Francisco, but has often included Oakland, the greater Bay Area, and for a brief time around 2015, Los Angeles.[12]

The Bold Italic has also produced events. In December 2012, it hosted "Gift Shop," a holiday marketplace of San Francisco-made goods at its own event space, in partnership with the 5M Project.[13] Other events staged during the publication's first five years included block parties, a recurring "Big Gay Birthday" party, a creativity conference, neighborhood dinners produced with Stag Dining Group, formal dances, and an evening at the San Francisco Zen Center that paired meditation with experimental music. The magazine also ran a multi-city "Bold Rush" tour down the West Coast to Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle.[3]

Ownership changes

Gannett shuttered the magazine in 2015 amid a broader restructuring,[14] and, according to a local news story, the company's sales department circulated an email offering the brand for sale "to the tune of 5+ million."[15] Scripted co-founder Sunil Rajaraman and tech writer Sonia Arrison bought The Bold Italic in late 2015.[16] In 2019, the magazine was acquired by Medium.[17] In 2023, Medium transferred ownership of the publication to GrowSF, a moderate-leaning political pressure group, and journalist Saul Sugarman was appointed as the editor-in-chief.[18][19] In 2026, Sugarman announced that The Bold Italic had been independently owned by him since August 2025.[20][21]

Awards

The Bold Italic was a Webby honoree and an IDSA finalist, and was named best webzine by SF Weekly.[22] In 2024, it won a San Francisco Press Club award for its photo coverage of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence event, Hunky Jesus.[23][24] In 2020, Jaya Padmanabhan also won a Press Club award for her story, "For Aging Immigrants, Food from Their Homelands Is Key to Happiness."[25]

References

  1. ↑ "Strange Fitness". The Bold Italic. Archived from the original on March 22, 2016. Retrieved May 18, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Make your news relevant to Millennials by developing an approachable writing voice". American Press Institute. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  3. 1 2 Maerz, Jennifer (April 7, 2015). "Goodbye Bold Italic". Medium. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  4. 1 2 Malone, Kelly (March 26, 2012). "Introducing The Bold Italic Office!". The Bold Italic. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  5. ↑ Wong, Dickson (March 14, 2012). "The Bold Italic's Office Space Designed By Kelly Malone On California Home+Design (PHOTOS)". HuffPost. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  6. ↑ Spencer, Keith A. "The Burning Man Bingo Card". The Bold Italic. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  7. ↑ Hubbard, Amy (April 26, 2013). "Restaurant review by a 4-year-old: Read his face". Daily Dish. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved May 30, 2026.
  8. ↑ "Outraged Comments from Our French Laundry Review". The Bold Italic. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  9. ↑ Bloom, Jay (April 7, 2015). "The Bold Italic Ceases Operations". SFist. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  10. ↑ Steiner, Wendy (April 11, 2014). "Made Up Chart: Who Wears Heels In SF?". The Bold Italic. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  11. ↑ "What hyperlocal site The Bold Italic can teach journalists about storytelling, humor and risk-taking". International Journalists' Network. Retrieved May 21, 2026.
  12. ↑ Benton, Joshua (April 7, 2015). "The Bold Italic, Gannett's San Francisco attempt to find a new way to do local, is shutting down". Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  13. ↑ "The Bold Italic's "Gift Shop" SF Made Shopping Party". SF Funcheap. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  14. ↑ Kaul, Greta (April 7, 2015). "The Bold Italic, experimental S.F. magazine site, shuts down". SFGate. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  15. ↑ Bieschke, Marke (April 7, 2015). "The Bold Italic ceases operations". 48 Hills. Retrieved May 31, 2026.
  16. ↑ Lichterman, Joseph (June 24, 2015). "After being shut down by Gannett, San Francisco's The Bold Italic is returning under new ownership". Nieman Journalism Lab. Retrieved May 20, 2026.
  17. ↑ "Medium buys Bay Area mag The Bold Italic to add to its paywall". TechCrunch. February 12, 2019.
  18. ↑ Vainshtein, By Annie (December 8, 2022). "This San Francisco political group is taking over the Bold Italic". San Francisco Chronicle.
  19. ↑ "SF Political Group Backing Latest Iteration of Bold Italic". sfstandard.com. August 8, 2023. Retrieved June 19, 2026.
  20. ↑ "About The Bold Italic". The Bold Italic. Retrieved February 6, 2026.
  21. ↑ Sugarman, Saul. "A note to our readers". The Bold Italic. Retrieved March 19, 2026.
  22. ↑ "The Bold Italic, IDEO-Designed Online Magazine, Shuts Down". Fast Company. April 7, 2015. Retrieved April 14, 2015.
  23. ↑ "SFPC 47th Annual Greater Bay Area Journalism Awards Winners". San Francisco Press Club. December 5, 2024. Retrieved December 12, 2024.
  24. ↑ Beale, Christopher. "A San Francisco Press Club Win!". Retrieved April 5, 2026.
  25. ↑ "2020 Final Winners List". SF Press Club. Retrieved April 5, 2026.
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