Pink News
Pink News (styled PinkNews) is a UK-based LGBT online news publication founded by Benjamin Cohen in 2005 (not to be confused with the earlier publication Pink Paper). Jessica Geen was its editor from 2009 to 2011. By 2020 it was run by an editorial team rather than a single editor, with Cohen remaining chief executive. It is one of the largest LGBT news websites in the world.[1]
Print edition
A print edition, The Pink News, was officially launched at the Law Society on 28 June 2006 by Francis Maude, then chairman of the Conservative Party; Meg Munn, Minister for Equality; Simon Hughes, President of the Liberal Democrats; and Meg Hillier, MP for Hackney South and Shoreditch. The print edition was suspended in early 2007 and is no longer produced.
Editorial stance and coverage
Pink News has given particular attention to religion and homosexuality, frequently covering and criticising the Catholic Church's positions on gay issues. Its coverage has been broadly supportive of transgender rights, and it has been critical of the LGB Alliance and of gender critical viewpoints. This stance has itself been a subject of debate: the publication describes itself as standing for the rights of the whole LGBTQ+ community and its allies,[1] while some gender-critical commentators and campaigners have criticised its reporting of those disputes. In 2021 the writer Julie Bindel brought a defamation claim against Pink News.[2]
2024 misconduct allegations
In December 2024 a BBC News investigation and accompanying documentary, PinkNews: Behind Closed Doors, reported allegations by former and current staff of sexual misconduct, bullying and a toxic workplace culture involving Cohen and his husband, Dr Anthony James, the site's chief operating officer.[3] Cohen and James strongly denied the allegations, describing them as false and malicious, saying that a police investigation had prevented them from responding in detail at the time, and accusing the BBC of misrepresenting their response.[4] Following the reporting, James was suspended from a non-executive role at an NHS trust pending further information.[5]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pink News, pinknews.co.uk, accessed 9 July 2023.
- ↑ "Gay website claimed anti-trans feminists groom and abuse", The Sunday Times, 23 May 2021.
- ↑ Pink News bosses accused of sexual misconduct, BBC News, 10 December 2024.
- ↑ PinkNews bosses deny 'malicious' sexual misconduct claims, BBC News, December 2024.
- ↑ PinkNews boss suspended from NHS job after BBC investigation, BBC News, December 2024.
External links
- pinknews.co.uk – official website