Sydney Star Observer

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Gay and Lesbian Community Publishing Limited is a community-owned, incorporated company.

The company’s core business is publishing the Sydney Star Observer and Southern Star — weekly gay and lesbian community newspapers based in Sydney and Melbourne.

Although the newspaper is Sydney-based, it is distributed in regional NSW , capital cities and tourist gateways such as Cairns in North Queensland. It has the highest audited circulation of any lesbian and gay weekly newspaper in the country.

The website – www.starobserver.com.au — is the most popular on-line news source for Austraian GLBT news and views with an active interstate and overseas readership.

We have recently added a website to our Melbourne production — www.sstar.net.au

Mission

The purpose of Gay & Lesbian Community Publishing Limited is to serve the Sydney gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and queer communities by being the pre-eminent provider of access to news and information through various media.

We strive to serve our purpose by:

* Drawing on the range of skills and experience within the gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and queer communities, including businesses, community-based organisations and individuals
* Pursuing the goal of excellence in the products, services, and operation of our company
* Applying the highest standards of ethical conduct to our journalism and the provision of news and information through our various products

Our organisation is owned by members of and operated for the gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and queer communities. Profits from our business are used to strengthen and expand the operation of our company. Our primary activity is the publication of the Sydney Star Observer and Southern Star, newspapers of information and news of interest to gay, lesbian, transgendered, bisexual and queer people living in Sydney, Melbourne and other regions.

Our company may pursue other publishing activities which are consistent with and complementary to this mission statement, and which benefit the company and the gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual and queer communities.

History

The Star was founded in 1979 under its original title The Sydney Star. In later years a few different publishers had their hand in running the paper involving just a little of the drama and wrangling gay and lesbian community organisations are so famous for. In February 1988 the Sydney Star Observer was purchased by a company formed specifically to continue publishing the paper under community ownership, Cobyork Ltd. There were 200 shares in Cobyork Ltd until 1993, when a Special General Meeting voted to split each share into four. This broadened the range of shareholders involved with the company with a special effort to engage the lesbian community..

In May 1994, a Special General Meeting voted to change the name of the company to Sydney Gay and Lesbian Community Publishing Limited. Each year, at the Annual General Meeting, shareholders elect the next year’s Board. They may also vote at this meeting or at Special General Meetings, if called, on various aspects of the company’s operation as defined in its Memorandum and Articles of Association. Resolutions and other matters for discussion can also be raised at these meetings.

As at 30 June 2008, the total number of shareholders was 393.

The company supports an independent editorial policy and the journalist code of ethics.

The company’s shareholders have never received a dividend on their shares. Those who buy shares do so with the understanding that dividends will not be paid when the Sydney Star Observer and other ventures of the company do return profits each year. However, as the company is a community-owned and oriented business, these profits are used to maintain the growth of the business, ensure all staff and contributors are paid equitably and (as far as possible) in line with market rates, and also make a contribution to the broader gay and lesbian community through donations and sponsorships.

In October 2008 the company started production of Southern Star, a new gay and lesbian paper for Melbourne and greater Victoria, and its associated website, www.sstar.net.au.

The company also pursues other publishing ventures from time to time.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors oversees the general management of the company.

There are ten directors in all, eight are elected by shareholders at the Annual General Meeting, company staff elects one and the other is the incumbent editor.

The Board elects the Board’s Chair and Treasurer.

* Scott Abrahams (publishing editor)
* Daniel Bone (chair)
* Ken Taylor
* Garry Oliver (Victorian representative)
* Scott McKeown (staff representative)
* Andrew Potts
* Cheyne Nulty
* Craig Panigiris
* Matthew Vaughan
* Samantha Tannous

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