PinkNews.co.uk considering business development options

PinkNews logo surrounded by illustrated images including a rainbow, unicorn, PN sign and pride flag.

PinkNews.co.uk founder and publisher Benjamin Cohen said today that he was considering a range of options to develop the business and maximise revenue in order to grow.

In an interview with Press Gazette, Mr Cohen said he had appointed a corporate adviser to explore possible partnering opportunities in the UK and the US.

He said that options include another publisher making a strategic investment in the business, or raising capital to expand both in the UK and in the USA.

Currently, PinkNews.co.uk has just one full-time staff member, backed up by a roster of freelance journalists and guest commentators.

In the interview, Mr Cohen said he had dismissed the ideas of erecting a paywall around the website and relaunching its print version, The Pink News.

PinkNews.co.uk brings in between 450,000 and 600,000 unique readers a month which includes around 10,000 core readers who typically make around ten visits a day (so read every article).

The website’s iPhone application has been downloaded more than 12,000 times, he said.

Mr Cohen said today: “We can confirm what was reported in Press Gazette but no particular course of action has been chosen. We are looking at a range of options.

“We think that our readers would like more content so we’re considering a range of options to maximise revenue to allow us to invest more resources into producing more content.

“Any course of action will be about strengthening PinkNews.co.uk and building on a particularly successful year after our election coverage, which saw all three party leaders speak to our readers.”

“At all times,” he added, “we’ll act in the best interests of the founding principles of PinkNews.co.uk: quality journalism, free from any links to adult content, that stimulates debate and furthers the progress towards full LGBT equality.”