The Bold Italic’s catalogue of now-standard fluff pieces and flippant personal essays hasn’t seen an update in well over a month.
Y’all know our … Well, let’s say unfavorable opinion on The Bold Italic after its acquisition by GrowSF, a prominent big-money PAC, the once beloved publication that served as a beat for SF’s left-of-center quirkiness has now efficiently devolved into fluff.
The Bold Italic is no longer a prestigious and applauded media outlet, but now rather a long list of lukewarm, hollow narrative pieces about loving San Francisco, punctuated by gauzy event coverage. Despite its numerous restaurant reviews, the publication serves up nothing but emptiness.
However, keen-eyed readers and haters alike have pointed out something suspicious: The Bold Italic has stopped publishing all of a sudden.
Saul Sugarman, the publications current editor-in-chief who’s gotten into hot water for blocking people criticizing his work and association with The Bold Italic, last posted on April 23rd; Suggarman’s essay about SF’s famous Hunky Jesus competition was followed two days later by different authors personally essay about (you guess it) the exact same topic; the editorial range displayed by The Bold Italic is unmatched.
The aforementioned fit of editorial deja vu was published by TBI on April 27th. Nothing has come to the public’s attention since.
TBI’s social media accounts have also grown noticeably quieter since the 2024 general election; its owner, GrowSF, heavily funded moderate political ballot measures and candidates during that election cycle, racking up several failures; amid the void of TBI content, GrowSF’s on-site blog — a smatter of news stories dedicated to political agenda that aligns with its funded measures — has published with much more frequency.
The Bold Italic has gone through a near-uncountable number of iterations; (I was part of one and was promised to continue it … until I wasn’t); the publication, too, has gone through long publishing pauses during those transitions, though none has been as searing or ironic as this current one.
To have a San Francisco publication for its left-of-center takes and raw reporting (and storytelling) of the city fall into the possession of a PAC infamous for its moderatism and toxicity is all too poetic. All we can hope for now is that if TBI does fall, let her/him/they finally rest peacefully. And if TBI is resuscitated, may her/him/they not be used as an ill-fitting political megaphone.
