• by Ray Schultz , July 30, 2024

Two alternative weeklies: The Stranger, of Seattle, and the Portland Mercury, have been acquired by Noisy Creek, a firm run by Brady Walkinshaw, a former Washington State legislator. 

Terms of the purchase from Index Newspapers were not disclosed. But Index will retain a 20% stake. 

The deal includes The Stranger’s events site EverOut, and its ticketing business, Bold Type Tickets.

The Mercury says there will “absolutely not” be any layoffs. On the contrary, there will be new editorial hires and increased technical support.

Hannah Murphy Winter, a former Rolling Stone editor, will become editor in chief of The Stranger.  

Noisy Creek’s budget will be $5 million to $10 million in its first year, Walkinshaw told  The New York Times.

The Stranger offered this irreverent welcome to its new owner: “Walkinshaw, our new benevolent overlord, worked as a former Democratic Washington State House Representative for a while before becoming the CEO of Grist, which does a nice job reporting on our melting planet. He says he’s not going to lay off anyone, and he’ll bring in a bunch more money to expand and deepen our coverage.”