This morning a package arrived at PGN offices. The package contained five plaques for the five National Newspaper Association awards that PGN has won this year. The staff was thrilled, and as publisher my pride in them was overwhelming, but behind the success is most likely similar to what every business owner feels. It’s been a hard year for us and these awards show that despite all the obstacles our staff has faced they were still able to do their jobs and once again bring home top national honors.
But it’s been difficult. To survive, PGN like other businesses had to make changes to deal with the pandemic. For us, it meant that many of those who advertise in PGN no longer had the funds to do so. Advertising is how we pay those writers, graphic designers, ad reps, freelancers, and the list goes on. I’m proud to say that PGN has fulfilled its obligations as it has for 45 years. Our staff is dedicated to the community and it shows in their passion for the paper and community.
We all want to thank the many supporters and advertisers who through their own difficulty felt a need to assure that Philadelphia’s LGBT community deserved an independent voice.
We’re also proud that city, state and federal government agencies are now beginning to appreciate the multicultural populations and taking steps to reach those specific markets rather than just the mainstream newspapers. This is what Independence Business Alliance has been preaching: Our community pays taxes and deserves equal services and equal outreach. PGN is also a member of the Philadelphia Multicultural Newspaper Association, which works to bring a diversified and inclusive voice to our city.
The last thank you is to our dedicated readers who continue to give us tips, suggest story ideas, request to do an op-ed, or just let us know their opinion on a story. That feedback is very valuable to us.
So as we close out this difficult year, we look forward to a brighter and stronger year for the entire community. And we do that as we have since the very first day of this publication 45 years ago: with Pride in our community.