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 PinkNews homepage, April 2012 | |
Type of site | Online newspaper |
|---|---|
| Available in | English |
| Created by | Benjamin Cohen |
| URL | thepinknews |
| Commercial | Yes |
| Registration | No |
| Launched | July 2005 (2005-07) |
| Current status | Active |
PinkNews is a UK-basedonline newspaper marketed to thelesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and questioning community (LGBTQ+) in the UK and worldwide. It was founded byBenjamin Cohen in July 2005, initially released in print, but became an online version six months later.
The paper closely follows political progress onLGBTQ+ rights around the world, and carries interviews with cultural figures and politicians, including thegay marriage debate in the UK, and has participated in campaigns such asOut4Marriage.
PinkNews was founded byBenjamin Cohen in July 2005.[1][2] PinkUnlimited.co.uk Ltd was registered at Companies House on 13 December 2005.[3] That month the sittingPrime Minister,Tony Blair, wrote their online article:We are living in a new age of equality.[4]The PinkNews paper version was officially launched in 2006.[5] However,PinkNews became an online-only publication when the print edition was dropped after six months.[6]
In April 2015, the company was renamed PinkNews Media Group Ltd.[3] In 2018, PinkNews became the first LGBTQ+ publisher onSnapchat. It had an operating profit of £2million in 2021.[7] The website was redesigned in 2022. New filtering features were also added to its app in an attempt to counternews avoidance due to negative reporting.[1]
In November 2020, the company was renamedPinkNews Media Ltd.[3]
In 2006, two tabloid newspapers, theNews of the World andThe Sun, published false allegations about two unnamedPremiershipfootballers having a gay orgy with aDJ, using a pixelated photograph of footballerAshley Cole to illustrate the story. PinkNews published what it claimed to be theunpixelated original photograph. Cole, along with the DJ, Masterstepz, sued the tabloids' parent companyNews International and won at least £100,000 plus legal costs.[8]
PinkNews reported heavily on the refusal ofStonewall, an LGBTQ+ rights group, to actively campaign forgay marriage prior to October 2010.[9] A poll commissioned byPinkNews and answered by more than 800 of their readership found 98% in support of marriage equality.[9] Stonewall was also criticised by a former founder,Michael Cashman, MEP[9] in an op-ed forPinkNews entitled "What part of 'equality' can't Stonewall understand?"[10] Stonewall CEO,Ben Summerskill later accusedPinkNews of running an "unethical campaign" against Stonewall after asking every LGBT organisation and political group to outline their stance on the issue, with only Stonewall refusing to comment. In October 2010, Stonewall revised its policy and agreed to support same-sex marriage.[11][12] On 25 April 2012PinkNews began using a video for the Coalition for Equal Marriage in their advertising space, wrote articles in support of it and gave it their official backing, encouraging readers to respond to the government consultation to show their opinions.[13][14]
PinkNews regularly reported on the progress of theOut4Marriage campaign, which was started in May 2012 and launched by Mike Buonaiuto andPinkNews founder, Benjamin Cohen. The campaign used YouTube videos of people supporting equal marriage, including celebrities and Members of Parliament, finishing with the line "And that's why I'm out for marriage. Are you?". The Out4Marriage YouTube campaign reached 14 million views in just three weeks from launch.[15][16][17]PinkNews was an official supporter of theCoalition for Equal Marriage (C4EM), a counter-organisation to theCoalition for Marriage, and successfully petitioned for the introduction ofsame-sex marriage rights in England and Wales, while the Coalition for Marriage campaigned against it.[18]
PinkNews began to collaborate closely with Stonewall following the departure of Summerskill in 2014. PinkNews had regularly reported criticism of Stonewall for its refusal to campaign on transgender issues.[19] A year later, under Chief ExecutiveRuth Hunt, Stonewall decided to begin campaigning on transgender issues.[20] Hunt has written forPinkNews on a number of occasions.[21]
In 2017, Stonewall andPinkNews co-hosted an electionhustings.[22]
In 2012PinkNews named 25 January asPeter Tatchell Day to celebrate the British political campaigner's 60th birthday, 45 years of human rights campaigning and 10 years since the launch of the Peter Tatchell Foundation.[23]PinkNews also published a prose poem written byStephen Fry in honour of Tatchell's birthday on 24 January and frequently carries advertisements for the Peter Tatchell Foundation.[24]
PinkNews became one of the few LGBTQ+ publications to have interviewed an incumbentArchbishop of Canterbury in 2014, whenJustin Welby discussed theChurch of England's approach to homosexuality.[25]
On 2 January 2020, UKMPLayla Moran revealed in an interview with PinkNews that she ispansexual; she is believed to be the first UK parliamentarian to come out as pansexual.[26]
In 2019 PinkNews apologised toJoanna Cherry, who at the time was the MP forEdinburgh South West for falsely stating that she was being investigated for homophobia.[27] In a correction published on their website, they "made a donation to theLesbian and Gay Immigration Group at Ms Cherry’s request in compensation for the damage done and we have paid Ms Cherry’s legal costs."
In July 2020, the writer and activistJulie Bindel sued PinkNews and its editorBenjamin Cohen for libel in relation to an article concerninggender-critical feminism that she argued defamed her.[28][29] In October 2021, the case was settled out of court with PinkNews publishing a joint statement with Bindel stating "The [original] article made a number of serious allegations of misconduct and PinkNews accepts that if the allegations were understood to refer to Julie, they would be wholly untrue."[30]
On 11 December 2024, the BBC broadcast an investigation in which Anthony James and Benjamin Cohen were accused by more than 30 current and former members of staff of inappropriate touching, kissing, and bullying.[31][32] The staff members described atoxic workplace.[33] On 17 December, the couple released a statement describing the allegations of sexual misconduct as "false, inconsistent and malicious" and accused the BBC of misleading the public.[34]
