In a lean era for digital media, The Bold Italic has maintained a modest and loyal team of writers, photographers, social media producers, and nonprofit advisors who do the work that keeps an independent SF publication alive.
Saul Sugarman — Editor-in-Chief & Owner
Saul Sugarman has lived in San Francisco since 2010, working first as a full-time reporter for Bay City News Service and San Francisco Daily Journal. He later became a writer and editor for Hoodline, and a columnist for the San Francisco Examiner, before getting hired as editor-in-chief for The Bold Italic in 2023. In 2025, Saul became owner of The Bold Italic.
Saul holds a bachelor's in political science from UC Davis and a master's in journalism from the University of Hong Kong. He is the recipient of numerous awards from the San Francisco Press Club and one from the California Newspaper Publisher's Association. He began his journalism career in multimedia production for Bloomberg News and The Wall Street Journal, and you can also see his work in the Daily Beast, KQED, and the Associated Press.
Courtney Muro — Photographer, Writer & Social Media Producer
Courtney Muro joined The Bold Italic in 2024 as a photographer, but quickly rose to become Saul Sugarman's second-in-command for all things photo and social media-related. She's ventured inside a Painted Lady and witnessed weddings at Outside Lands. There was also that one time she found a Trump campaign table in San Francisco and asked all the questions.
Courtney has worked in content strategy, public relations, and travel writing, including a stint on Thrillist's Vacation Funds column, and The Nudge. She holds a bachelor's in history from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and a master's in global policy and strategy from UC San Diego.
T. Von D. — Writer & Events Assistant
T. Von D. is a longtime museum worker and LGBTQ+ community activist, working in the San Francisco nonprofit space in curation and archiving. Her work with Saul Sugarman predates their shared time at The Bold Italic: from 2015 to 2020, they both worked in event production in SF's Castro and SoMa neighborhoods, and also worked as optical assistants in the Outer Sunset. T. joined The Bold Italic in 2023 as an emerging writer, gaining prominence with music coverage and skipping fare on Muni.
In addition to the core team, above, the following people regularly freelance for The Bold Italic enough to help set the editorial tone of the brand.
Adriana Roberts — Writer
Adriana is a DJ, performer, writer, and trans advocate who has been a fixture of San Francisco nightlife for more than two decades. In 2003, Roberts co-founded Bootie, the first mashup party in the United States, and has since built Bootie Mashup into an international brand with parties from Los Angeles to Paris and Sydney. A longtime burner who spent 27 years publishing Piss Clear, Black Rock City's best-known newspaper, she writes for The Bold Italic about the city's theater, festivals, and queer culture.
Christopher J. Beale — Writer & Photographer
Christopher J. Beale is an award-winning journalist, media host, and audio engineer who covers LGBTQ+ life, arts, transit, and culture in San Francisco. After more than 20 years in commercial radio, Beale moved to the Bay Area in 2019 and has since reported for KQED and edited and hosted KALW's queer radio program "Out in the Bay," where he also co-produces the podcast "Stereotypes." For The Bold Italic he writes first-person dispatches on the city, including the viral story of the giant illuminated X that briefly loomed over his neighborhood.
Non-profit sponsorship
The Bold Italic operates under the fiscal sponsorship of Independent Arts & Media, a San Francisco nonprofit that stewards and empowers independent arts and media projects in the name of free expression and civic participation. As a registered 501(c)(3), IAM gives projects like ours a charitable home, handling the legal and administrative infrastructure that lets us accept tax-deductible donations and grants without standing up our own nonprofit.
IAM is led by Executive Director Lisa Burger, a licensed attorney who has run the organization since 2016. She brings more than a decade in arts nonprofit management. She specializes in nonprofit formation, operations, and early strategy. Her guidance has been instrumental in helping The Bold Italic find its footing in the nonprofit world, from navigating the terms of fiscal sponsorship to laying the groundwork for grants and sustainable independent journalism, and work in the arts.