Renee Raketty has worn a number of hats in her years with Seattle Gay News as contributing writer, staff writer and managing editor. In July, she’s donning a new one as the paper celebrates its 50th anniversary: owner. After nearly a decade at SGN and a long history of involvement with local LGBTQ+ organizations, Raketty, a lifelong Pacific Northwesterner, announced in late May that she will be officially taking stewardship of the LGBTQ+ news and entertainment publication.
Raketty, 46, first started working for SGN in October 2001 as a writer and became managing editor in August 2005. After a brief departure from journalism, Raketty returned to SGN in 2020 after the death of the newspaper’s longtime editor and owner George Bakan. After his passing, Bakan’s daughter, Angela Cragin, took over and ran the newsroom until SGN was sold to Mike Schultz’s Stratus Group in 2023.
When Schultz announced plans to relocate to California to be closer to family, Raketty stepped up to lead the paper. “I cut my teeth in journalism writing for the Seattle Gay News. I felt really connected to the community,” Raketty said of her decision to acquire the paper.
“I’ve always loved this paper. It holds a really big part of my heart.” Schultz officially transferred the paper’s ownership to Raketty’s Prism Pride Press, which will go into effect at midnight June 30.
Stratus Group will lose rights to SGN’s intellectual property at the end of the month, but continue to retain the .
