‘At a time when local media is increasingly being controlled by tech money and political groups, it’s more important than ever that San Franciscans support truly independent local publications.’
As the former editor-in-chief of The Bold Italic (TBI), I am deeply saddened and angry over Medium’s decision to give away such a beloved San Francisco publication to a conservative-leaning political PAC run by two former tech executives — with one of them, Steven Buss, in particular, having a history of vocally backing union busting narratives and once aligned “xenophobia and racism” as a “classic problem” among San Francisco progressives.
I can't believe I'm going to say this… but please, please (please) reconsider your readership and loyalty to @thebolditalic going forward.
As it was announced today, @GrowSF — a moderate PAC in San Francisco — has now acquired the brand from Medium. (1/?)
— Matt Charnock (@M_J_Charnock) December 8, 2022
Medium bought The Bold Italic, which has served as a hyper-local publication in San Francisco for more than a decade, in 2019. I, who most recently served as the publication’s editor-in-chief, had been in talks about acquiring the digital magazine, given that Medium no longer had an editorial staff to manage it. (Medium issued a buyout to the majority of its journalists in April 2021, which the publication’s past editor-in-chief, Clara Hogan, took.)
The aforenoted political fundraising and advocacy group is notorious for fiscally supporting moderate candidates in SF and bills itself as a community touchstone for "residents who believe San Francisco can be a world-class city for everyone." (2/?)
— Matt Charnock (@M_J_Charnock) December 8, 2022
Months after Medium assured me that they were working on handing off the brand to me, the company suddenly changed its mind and terminated my working contract.
The group has supported the recall of former SF DA @chesaboudin; the collective endorsed pro-police @mattdorsey over @honeymahogany's platform of police reform in the recent D6 election; most recently, they have come after Supervisor @DeanPreston — "Dump Dean." (3/?)
— Matt Charnock (@M_J_Charnock) December 8, 2022
On Thursday, I learned in a San Francisco Chronicle piece that Medium had “given away — for free” the publication to GrowSF, a political PAC. Medium knew countless journalists who had run the publication would have happily taken back and run The Bold Italic. Instead of giving it to them or another media/journalism group, it chose to make it a megaphone for a political PAC. No former TBI writers or editors were approached to own the brand after my acquisition deal fell through.
The publication is now in the hands of two former tech workers, who seem out of touch with San Francisco itself. Or rather: They want to have their hands in building a utopia suitable for only a certain subset of San Franciscans… who are incredibly financially affluent. (4/?)
— Matt Charnock (@M_J_Charnock) December 8, 2022
GrowSF claims The Bold Italic will be “apolitical.” Not only is this impossible given that a political group is now running it, but that sentiment goes against the nature of TBI, which always took on political issues.
In the acquisition announcement in the @sfchronicle, one of the co-founders said the "plan is not to make [The] Bold Italic political."
This is coming from a political group — one that wants TBI to be like "Humans of New York," which is a blatant copy of an original idea. (5/?)
— Matt Charnock (@M_J_Charnock) December 8, 2022
The publication was loved for being fiercely independent and featuring controversial personal essays, in-depth reporting, and opinion pieces. TBI captured the liberal, free-wheeling spirit of the Bay Area, and I am disappointed to see what it is destined to become.
That's all for now. I'm just as sad and angry and disappointed as y'all are. But, alas, sometimes we must kill our darlings. (6/6)
— Matt Charnock (@M_J_Charnock) December 8, 2022
At a time when local media is increasingly being controlled by tech money, political groups, and venture capital companies — The San Francisco Standard has initial funding from Sequoia Capital, for example — it’s more important than ever that San Franciscans support truly independent local publications. Sadly, this no longer includes The Bold Italic. But this does, however, now include Underscore_SF.
Signed,
Matt Charnock (Former Editor-in-Chief)
