The Stranger newspaper sold to former state legislator Brady Walkinshaw

The Stranger, Seattle’s longtime alternative media outlet and self-proclaimed “only newspaper,” has new ownership. Brady Walkinshaw, a former state lawmaker who represented central Seattle’s 43rd legislative district from 2013 to 2017, bought The Stranger and other Index Media publications.

Walkinshaw is the largest shareholder, chairman, and publisher of Noisy Creek, a new company that has acquired The Stranger, Portland Mercury, events site EverOut, and ticketing business Bold Type Tickets.

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Walkinshaw, who for six years was CEO of environmental media nonprofit Grist, declined to share the price of the sale in a phone call on Tuesday morning. He said the budget range for Noisy Creek in its first year will range from $5 million to $10 million.

“I'm excited to bring the resources to support journalists who are there today, and hopefully people who we bring into the organization will have an environment where they can do their very best work,” Walkinshaw said.

Walkinshaw said he harbors understanding and appreciation for editorial independence, and that he doesn’t plan to be a part of The Stranger’s Election Control Board.

“I won't be directly involved in the endorsements process,” Walkinshaw said. “None of that is the role of a publisher.”

News of the sale was confirmed on Monday by the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, which represents workers at Index Media, including The Stranger.

"Our workers still have many questions, as the vast majority of Index Newspapers employees have not yet had a chance to hear Walkinshaw’s plans in his own words,” Index Union Media members said in a statement to KUOW. “Regardless of what we learn at (Tuesday's) all-staff meeting, we remain committed to the editorial independence of our publications — both in day-to-day reporting and in the candidates we endorse.”

Kaitlin Gillespie, executive officer for the Pacific Northwest Newspaper Guild, said there will be no unionized job layoffs as a result of this sale.

Current employees will be offered their current roles, or something slightly different or better within Noisy Creek, Walkinshaw said. Hannah Murphy Winter, a former Rolling Stone editor, will be appointed as the new editor-in-chief, while Rich Smith will remain the news editor.

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The alt-weekly newspaper was founded in 1991 by Tim Keck, after he co-founded and sold the satire news outlet the Onion. In 2012, The Stranger won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on a woman who recounted her sexual assault and the murder of her partner, during courtroom testimony.

Workers at Index Media, including at The Stranger, Portland Mercury, EverOut and Bold Type Tickets, announced they had unionized last February.

KUOW's Kim Malcom interviewed Brady Walkinshaw's about his group's purchase of The Stranger and the Portland Mercury. Listen by clicking the audio above.

Clarification: An earlier version of this story stated that The Stranger had been owned by Index Media since at least the early 2010s. However, The Stranger has been owned by Index Newspapers since 2002.