Resolution Authorizing MLK Labor to Invest in Noisy Creek, Inc.

June 19, 2025

WHEREAS, news media outlets are increasingly controlled by large corporate interests, and

WHEREAS, it is in the interest of MLK Labor, its affiliates, and their members to ensure that the public at large retains access to sources of news that are neither controlled nor influenced by corporate entities that do not have the interests of working people at heart, and

WHEREAS, The Stranger and The Portland Mercury, two of the nation’s best-known alternative weeklies, have now been purchased by Noisy Creek, Inc., a new media company that is controlled by people with strong progressive credentials, and

WHEREAS, The Stranger is one of the most important sources of news to a large number of people in the King County area that is not controlled by or substantially influenced by traditional corporate interests in our region such as the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, Amazon, Boeing, Microsoft, and Seattle King County REALTORS, and

WHEREAS, The Stranger is also one of the most important sources of news to the general public, specifically related to labor unions, workers, and labor issues and disputes occurring in the King County area, and

WHEREAS, it is in the interest of MLK Labor, its affiliates, and its members to help ensure the continued existence and growth of The Stranger as an independent, progressive media entity that also retains its focus on issues of particular importance to the labor movement, and

WHEREAS, by investing in Noisy Media, Inc., as part of a transaction that provides MLK Labor not only an equity interest in that company but also certain opportunities to ensure that the purposes of this investment, as set forth herein, are fully achieved, now,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: That MLK Labor is authorized to invest the sum of up to $50,000 of its own financial resources in Noisy Creek, Inc., in addition to any sums of money specifically provided to it by its affiliates or other labor organizations for this purpose, in exchange for an equivalent equity interest in that company, consistent with ancillary terms and conditions designed to ensure that the purposes of this investment are fully achieved, to be negotiated with due diligence and in compliance with all legal requirements and obligations, conditioned on the approval of the Trustees.