From our research we learned that people are actually craving strong opinions, not an approach of objective journalism. We wanted this new offer to trust it’s audience to make their own conclusions. San Francisco specifically celebrates eccentricity and doing so is a path to credibility.

We wanted this new journalism to be a call to action or readers, which would be organized through an iconoclastic narrative. We wanted to elevate the story as told by compelling individuals.

Beautiful design differentiates information and elevates it above commodity status. Readers were looking for elegant presentations of high quality content.

We heard a clear backlash against web 2.0-style crowd-sourced content—by everyone, for everyone. We heard “everyone” used in a pejorative way and strong positive associations with niche offerings.

How do all these things make sense together? 

The big idea is that we think that the glue that binds a community or a city together is not reading about local news. It’s more than that. It’s about shared experience—something that emerges from being in the same place, doing the same sorts of things, shopping at the same local stores. It all adds up to what local stories are really all about.

Historically speaking, the separation of advertising and editorial is relatively recent. In fact, classifieds originally were the heart of the newspaper and shamelessly intermingled with reporting and editorial. We saw the opportunity to re-integrate commerce and reporting in an authentic way.
 

We developed a whole new perspective on editorial content. In order to provide a news source with character, yet credibility, the writing and design is staffed through a cohort of local writers from around the city with a strong (sometimes polarizing) perspective on local news and issues. To create a balanced mix of editorial content, we ran new methods for generating content by writers and designers, breaking journalism’s conventional “pitch meeting” mold in order to establish the most efficient, creative environment possible for developing story ideas.

The Bold Italic would expose San Francisco’s cultural and commercial core, rather than simply its civic image. The stories published would strive to unearth rare tidbits about the city, outline offbeat urban adventures, and inform citizens about local products and services.

Our proposal offered a publishing model differed in approach to every other online property in 2009. Editorial content would be delivered on a predictable, just once daily schedule to keep content fresh, but not overwhelming. 
 

Besides being a test-bed for Gannett to experiment with new publishing and editorial models, it is also a sandbox for exploring business model alternatives to banner ads. Generally, The Bold Italic runs banner ad-free. Revenue is driven from strategic partnerships focused on local events, both free and sponsored as well as premium VIP events. 

We saw the The Bold Italic as an opportunity to celebrate and explore the micro-communities that exist within San Francisco, to put real feet on the street. In doing so, Gannett would invest in content creation on a small-scale, local level—something the big Internet players don’t do.
 

Feedback and reaction to the site was positive with recognition from influential designers and media brands. Most online newspapers consider pageviews of 3 to 4 minutes a success. In 2010, The Bold Italic garnered double that, or 7 to 8 minutes per pageview. The Bold Italic has been a Webby honoree, an IDSA finalist, and named best webzine by SF Weekly.

After 6 years, as media and technology continued to evolve, Gannett sunsetted The Bold Italic acknowledging that the property served its purpose as a testbed for new business models and storytelling formats. Soon after that, the property was purchased by Bay Area entrepreneurs looking to continue experimenting with business models in media and journalism with a beloved San Francisco brand.