About
What Is Gcn?
GCN (Gay Community News) is Ireland’s longest-running national gay publication and a not-for-profit registered charity. It was first published on February 10, 1988 after Tonie Walsh and Catherine Glendon, both activists on the Dublin gay scene, decided it was time for Ireland’s gay and lesbian population to have a free publication of their own.
The remit of GCN was to educate and inform its readers about political issues, to entertain them, speak about gay culture, and give them access to a greater sense of community, for free.
At the time it was illegal to have homosexual sex in Ireland, even between consenting adults. GCN became a lifeline to many gay and lesbian people, and since that time has been fundamental to gay life in Ireland.
GCN is owned and published by the National Lesbian and Gay Federation (NLGF Ltd), which is a voluntary organisation. It has led the media on reporting of gay political and social issues since it’s beginning.
WHO READS GCN?
GCN’s readers are wide-ranging in age, from 18 - 65, with a split of 60% men to 40% women, with 70% of our readers aged between 18 and 35.
Our readers are gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transsexual and are predominantly urban based with over 40% earning over 35,000 euro per annum, and 90% having no dependents.
The average GCN reader is highly social, culturally astute, politically sophisticated and well educated.
THE GCN EDITORIAL POLICY:
Although GCN’s production quality has vastly improved, according to the original remit it remains a free magazine for Ireland’s gay community.
To cater to our readers the focus of GCN continues to be political and community based. The magazine reports on political developments in Ireland north and south and throughout the world, and is a key source of information for gay men, lesbians, bisexuals and transsexual people in Ireland, providing them with details of all community and social events and initiatives. It is also a key source of information for the wider media, who use GCN as a starting point for their coverage of gay issues.
The word ‘Gay’ in our title and in our editorial covers the entire lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) community, and the magazine features editorial that speaks to all sectors of that community. GCN also publishes regular editorial for gay people with disabilities, gay people from the Traveller community, and gay immigrants.
GCN is currently the only publication in Ireland with a commitment to issues affecting people who are HIV positive. GCN has a dedicated HIV Editor and a regular column from a HIV positive man, which talks about issues that affect positive people across the board, not only in the gay community.
GCN also has regular celebrity interviews, lifestyle features, film, book and music reviews and columnists. It has a print-run of 11,000 copies each month. Previously it was estimated that with three hits for each copy, GCN had 33,000 readers. Based on recent statistics, we believe this estimate to be a conservative estimate
GCN, NOW AND THEN:
In July 2003, GCN changed from a newsprint freesheet into a high-quality, full-colour magazine with a glossy cover section. The decision to do this was based on the need for GCN to compete in the commercial market and attract advertising in order to survive. At that time, GCN was operating at a loss.
Since the re-launch of GCN, the magazine has made record advertising revenue, showing an average growth of 20% year-on-year. GCN is now attracting more mainstream advertising in areas such as men’s skincare products, cosmetic surgery, consumer electronics, financial services and car advertising.
In July 2005, GCN was approved for ABC membership. Our first audit took place in January 2006 and the distribution figure confirmed is currently 11,125 copies. It is hoped that the results from this audit will further grow GCN’s advertising revenue, particularly from the advertising agencies, and media specialists who have not advertised with GCN in the past due to our lack of ABC audited figures.
GCN is distributed across Ireland, north and south, and is about to be distributed in selected UK points.
