by Fred Kuhr

SGN, formerly known as Seattle Gay News, has had a lot of ups and downs over the past few years.

Longtime editor and publisher George Bakan, a fixture in Seattle’s LGBTQ community, led the newspaper from 1983 until his untimely death in 2020. Subsequently, Bakan’s daughter Angela Cragin inherited the newspaper and took over as owner and publisher. She chose to keep the business running as she spearheaded a rebrand and restructuring. But Cragin was never meant to be a longterm solution.

In 2023, SGN was acquired by Ocean Shores, Wash.-based Stratus Group, LLC. With the ownership transfer also came a publisher transfer, from Cragin to Mike Schultz, owner of Stratus Group. His experience publishing LGBTQ publications in smaller cities throughout Washington State led to more distribution outside Seattle. But earlier in 2024, Schultz decided he was moving to California, which meant the newspaper was up for sale yet again.

Thankfully Renee Raketty, who had served as SGN’s editor for about a year, stepped in and is now the new owner and publisher. (Hannah Saunders currently serves as editor with Matt Nagle as associate editor)

“I’m really honored to have the opportunity to fulfill this role as publisher,” Raketty told SGN back in June when she began her new role and at the beginning of what the newspaper called its “new era.” Her new company under which the ownership falls is called Prism Pride Press LLC.

Raketty has a long history with SGN. She began contributing to the newspaper in 2001, was hired as a staff writer, then was promoted to managing editor. In later years, when she wasn’t working at the SGN, she wrote for websites and always kept in touch with the newspaper, according to SGN.

Raketty had already made history as the newspaper’s first transgender editor, and now she is the paper’s first transgender publisher.

“It’s incredibly important for our LGBTQ community to have another Transgender voice speaking their truth when Transgender people here and across the country have faced some unprecedented attacks,” she told SGN. “I continue to face overt and covert discrimination, so I know we have a long way to go. The path to our own equality is far from over, and I hope the SGN can be of assistance in bringing the community together to fight these challenges and win complete and full equality for all people.”

Back in June, Raketty said that she had plans to improve SGN’s website by adding content throughout the week, restoring the comprehensive community calendar, and continuing to connect people with resources, especially for those who are new to the community.

“The print version itself will move from biweekly to monthly, and a weekly email newsletter will ensure that the SGN continues to be a regular and reliable news source as it has been historically,” SGN said as part of its “new era” plans. “The print edition will be reimagined as a newsmagazine, with a newspaper approach similar to the SGN’s popular special supplements.”

While many publications are migrating to digital, Raketty expressed her position that print must not disappear.

Raketty feels that it “remains important to keep printing the SGN to connect with those in the community who relate to it as a print publication and as a way for everyone to stay informed without having to rely solely on computer or phone.”

IN THE NEWS
Volume 26
Issue 10