Title
Honoring the Philadelphia Gay News on its 30th Anniversary.
Body
WHEREAS, On January 26, 1976, a year in which the bicentennial of the United States of America’s declaration of independence was celebrated, The Philadelphia Gay News, a weekly newspaper dedicated to the freedom of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered community was born; and
WHEREAS, The Philadelphia Gay News, also known as PGN, has matured into a powerhouse publication in the newspaper world. This award-winning weekly paper is now one of the oldest gay newspapers in the nation and its journalists have been honored by the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, the Society for News Design and the Society for Professional Journalists; and
WHEREAS, PGN has broadened readers’ perspectives on local and national gay issues. By exposing the life-threatening discrimination faced by LGBT persons both in the United States and abroad, PGN has enhanced our understanding of the LGBT community. PGN has also reported on issues of national significance including the Cuban Boat lift in 1980 and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989; and
WHEREAS, From its humble beginnings, PGN has grown to a full-time staff of 16, with countless freelancers and part-time workers, all who work together to meet its Friday publication date. PGN has been published each and every Friday for the last thirty years in the face of adversity, including lawsuits and crippling snowstorms. In what can clearly be taken as a sign of strength and independence for PGN, Mark Segal, the paper’s founder, publisher and owner, has refused numerous, multi-million dollar offers to sell PGN; and
WHEREAS, In the last year alone, PGN’s print circulation has grown by 17 percent. The growth and success of PGN has only one adverse consequence; as a free publication, the paper’s honor boxes can no longer be the source of quarters; and
WHEREAS, While PGN began in the primeval, pre-Internet era, its Web site, www.epgn.com. receives 60,000 unique hits per week, making it the most visited gay Philadelphia site on the Internet; now therefore
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby recognize and congratulate the Philadelphia Gay News on the occasion of its 30th Anniversary.
FURTHER RESOLVED, That an Engrossed copy of this resolution be presented to Mark Segal as Publisher of PGN as evidence of the respect and sincere sentiments of this legislative body.
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