ProCon.org is a non-profitcharitable organization headquartered in Santa Monica, California in the United States. It operates the ProCon.org website, an online resource for research on controversial issues. The content of ProCon.org is produced by five staff researchers, and its stated mission is "Promoting critical thinking, education, and informed citizenship by presenting controversial issues in a straightforward, nonpartisan, primarily."
History
ProCon.org was formed under section 501 of the US Internal Revenue Code as a public charity in Santa Monica on July 12, 2004 by Steven C. Markoff, a Los Angeles businessman, who is also the co-chairman of A-Mark Entertainment, a film production company. The organization's first managing editor, Kamy Akhavan, was hired on December 12, 2004. ProCon.org's first appearance in the media was on June 6, 2005, when its material on medicinal marijuana was referenced by the BBC. Akhavan was promoted from Managing Editor to President in 2010. The organization's board of directors consists of Markoff, his wife Jadwiga S.Z.-Markoff, John Kurtz, Stanley F. Shimohara and Bruce McNall.
Recognition
In addition, as of November 2, 2009, these materials were regularly being used by schools in all 50 states. Twelve international governments, 27 state governments, and many federal agencies have referenced ProCon.org including the US Dept. of Education, US Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the Congressional Research Service. In 2008, the Library of Congress archived three of ProCon.org's webpages as "materials of historical importance to the Congress and to the American people." Its materials on medical marijuana have been used by such governmental entities as the Office of National Drug Control Policy and the Congressional Research Service. On February 2, 2009, ProCon.org received the "Best Non-Profit to Work For" award from opportunityknocks.org. A division of the American Library Association voted ProCon.org as one of the "Top 25 Free Reference Websites of 2011" on June 17, 2011. As a result of winning this award, the organization was honored by Congressman Rob Andrews in the U.S. House of Representatives.
In addition to its collection of pro-con questions, ProCon.org develops proprietary research projects containing information on select subjects. In May 2008, ProCon.org published its "Fart Chart," which provided details on the dairy industry's greenhouse gas emissions from ruminant animals. In July 2009, ProCon.org's chart "Deaths from Marijuana v. 17 FDA-Approved Drugs" was referenced in a CBS News article about anti-drug campaigns. In October 2009, ProCon.org released a resource detailing the top ten richest US Senators' top stock trades in 2007 and the potential conflicts of interest that might arise from these trades.
Reception
The organization's materials have been referenced over 950 times by publications and media outlets, including TIME, the Los Angeles Times, the Merced Sun-Star, ABC News, the Daily World, Courrier International, The New York Times, Press TV, The Washington Post, Education Week, and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Akhavan has been interviewed by Pete the Planner, Minyanville, On Board, Fox Business, ABC News, and Voice of America. As of 2013, 241 books had referenced or mentioned ProCon.org in some way. Paul Krugman, a Nobel Prize–winning economist and op-ed columnist, used ProCon.org in his breakdown of the U.S. Affordable Care Act in 2011.