The Bold Italic is an online magazine that launched in 2009 as a collaboration between design firm IDEO and media company Gannett. It has since changed owners several times, and it is currently held by Saul Sugarman, a longtime journalist who has written about San Francisco for 15 years. Sugarman became owner of TBI in August 2025, following two years of serving as its editor in chief.
TBI is fully queer owned and operated, and we are a not-for-profit venture in partnership with Independent Arts & Media, our 501(c)(3) fiscal sponsor.
Our mission and values
The Bold Italic publishes first-person stories by locals on issues and topics that are on the brains and lips of San Franciscans. We are not a news site; We’re a hub for conversations to be heard and discussed. Some of the pieces we publish will make you laugh. Some will have you nodding your head in agreement. And others will completely piss you off.
We support businesses. The merchants, food carts, coffee shops, galleries, bars, and bookstores we patronize everyday are an undeniable part of how we understand and define our lives, personal spaces, and communities.
It’s our mission to commemorate the greatness, beauty, innovation, and heart involved in doing business. We want to inspire you to live life out in the city. These words were written around the time of The Bold Italic launch in 2009, and they continue to be true today.
This website and our newsletter are both hosted on Ghost. Our design is a customized theme created by EstudioPatagon. Our cover illustration is by Clark Leffler.