"Hypocrite Segal condones unsafe bareback sex!"

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"Segal slurps bisque as AIDS orgs suffer"

Philadelphia Gay News publisher Mark Segal has a reputation for holding grudges, and there was a time when you wouldn't have seen headlines like those about him—because no one had the balls to run them. But times have changed for PGN.

Tonight, the paper celebrates its 30th anniversary with a party at the Independence Visitor Center. Tomorrow, the anniversary issue hits the streets. And for the first time in his illustrious career, the publisher has an enemy who will be hard to punish. Because his enemy doesn't have a name.

For several months, the local gay community has been abuzz about a new, unsigned blog called "PGNwatch." In theory, the blog monitors the newspaper that has for many years been the only media outlet serving Philadelphia's gay community. In reality, it is not so much a watchdog as it is an attack dog, barking at Segal through a cyber fence. The writers began by hounding the publisher about the July 4th Elton John concert, which Segal organized and which cost more money than it raised. They quickly (and happily) expanded their coverage to encompass such matters as typos in Segal's "Mark My Words" column. Almost every post on the blog excoriates Segal; during the holiday season, a picture of the publisher was superimposed onto the face of the Grinch. The Web site even had this to say about Segal's partner of two years: "*cough* (kept boy) *cough*."

In an e-mail interview, PGNwatch defended its focus by claiming that the PGN is "not much more than a mouthpiece" for its prickly publisher.

"It's not necessarily the content of his staff's news stories (besides the many typos) that concerns PGNwatch," they wrote, "but more the selection of the stories themselves. Segal uses the paper to fight battles with his enemies."

For example, they say, the PGN ran numerous stories about Michael Hinson, the mayor's LGBT liaison, after he was arrested outside of a club. Police later dropped the charges and the city paid $15,000 to settle a lawsuit with Hinson. But, says PGNwatch, "the amount of exposure the PGN placed on Hinson's arrest painted him as a criminal. Hinson disagreed with Segal's political views, and Segal used the situation to his advantage by exploiting Hinson in his paper."

Just who has the temerity to make these accusations?

There are seven people involved in the production of the blog, the writers say, and they choose to remain anonymous to avoid Segal's infamous wrath. Back in October, a spokesman named Gary Davidoff, a Temple grad who has previously worked for Innovation Philadelphia, gave a quote on behalf of the site to the Daily News for an article about the Elton John concert. But Segal attempted to retaliate against him, PGNwatch says (they will not say how). They promise that no one in the group has "anything personal against Segal," and as evidence of their good will, they offer this generous thought: "While we're sure Segal knows he has his enemies, he may be surprised to learn exactly who and how many of them have provided information to PGNwatch."

Segal declined to comment, saying he was simply too busy preparing for the anniversary party to deal with other matters. But one gay community leader, who wished to remain anonymous ("because I don't want my life ruined"), says he believes that the blog is the work of Malcolm Lazin, or one of his close associates.

Lazin, the organizer of Equality Forum, has been a rival of Segal's since at least 2001, when he sent an infamous e-mail berating the PGN's coverage of the mayoral race. "The only thing that was missing," Lazin wrote, "was an editorial cartoon with a naked Mark Segal being penetrated by John Street with [PGN editor] Patti Tihey on all fours sucking Mark's genitalia …"

Lazin, like Segal, is reputed to be a less-than-forgiving man, and his very public feud with Segal continues today. The blog, this source says, is "so Malcolm. … That man acts crazy on the computer." But Lazin denies that he is behind PGNwatch, and declined to offer any additional thoughts. No other prominent figures in the gay community contacted by City Paper would speculate as to who is behind the blog, either, but several said they had been in numerous conversations about it.

"There certainly has been buzz," says Kelly Groves, co-chair of the Liberty City Democratic Club. Last week, Segal attacked Liberty City in his column, and Groves used the blog to post a response (PGN ran his letter as well). Groves doesn't want to criticize Segal, he says, but he's glad to see something "emerging as an alternative source of news for this community."

Larry Gross agrees. Formerly a professor at Penn's Annenberg School for Communication and a chair of the Philadelphia Lesbian and Gay Task Force, Gross says that minority press institutions tend to be monopolistic (because they serve smaller constituencies) and have a history of conflating the interests of a publisher with the journalistic work of the paper. Gross is now at the University of Southern California's Annenberg School, but doesn't remember PGN being an exception (indeed, he was often on Segal's bad side for making this point). Such a conflation causes two problems: that outsiders will assume PGN speaks for the community, and that members of the community will have a skewed view of issues. Blogs can help to balance the scales of influence, Gross says.

But, outside of its work on the Elton John concert, is this snarky and fixated blog a resource of any true value? The community leader who suspects Lazin thinks the idea is great, but wonders, "Why couldn't they call it the 'Community Watch' or the 'Gayborhood Watch,' and send e-mails about how there's a really bad hustler problem in the Gayborhood? It could be a good thing, but this person is obsessed with the PGN and Mark."

That very obsession is what makes other people love the blog. Michael P. Williams, the director of the Minority Business Enterprise Council and deputy finance director for the city, writes that "the proverbial 'skewering of sacred cows'—or are those 'pigs?'—is a worthy and noble cause. … PGN Watch is HILARIOUS! It's insightful, smart, witty and catty/petty … the pettiness part makes it a mirror image to PGN."

Of course, Williams is also an old enemy of Segal's—he says that some people have even suggested he's behind the blog. It makes one wonder whether people's thoughts about PGNwatch aren't heavily influenced by their opinions of its target.

In any case, PGNwatch will not be swayed by criticism, and its priorities remain clear. On Dec. 2, the blog received a comment posted by a reader named "tony," asking the writers to "keep on track" and focus on the concert revenues. Beneath it, an anonymous reader posted an anecdote about Segal at a party.

Faced with these two contrasting suggestions, PGNwatch posted this reply: "If anyone else has funny Segal stories or sightings, send them to pgnwatch@gmail.com!"