Over 60 Million Served Critical Thinking Content by ProCon.org

SANTA MONICA, Calif., Dec. 30, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- With over 60 million unique visits since the organization was formed in 2004, ProCon.org has brought the world roughly 100,000 hours of its unique pro, con, and related research in 50 topics ranging from medical marijuana to Obamacare to illegal immigration to gay marriage. All of ProCon.org content remains free, without ads, and without registration.

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ProCon.org (online at www.procon.org) is a nonpartisan research organization devoted to critical thinking on controversial topics. The 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity launched its 50^th issue website on Dec. 19^th. 2014 marks the organization's 10-year anniversary. The 50 ProCon.org issue websites feature over 1,250 questions and 12,000 expert responses from 6,600 cited sources.

Steve Markoff, founder and Chairman of ProCon.org, said about the public charity's milestone achievement: "We think the traffic from our many viewers well proves that people in our country and around the world are interested in truly understanding issues, and that they appreciate and have taken advantage of our free, unbiased, pros and cons of the important social issues of our day."

Ten highlights over the 10-year history include:

1. Archived twice by the Library of Congress for having "materials of historical importance to the Congress and to the American people."
2. Honored in the US Congressional Record on July 6, 2011 by Congressman Rob Andrews (D-NJ) who said ProCon.org's "unbiased and truthful presentation makes a tremendous contribution to the political system."
3. Used by educators in over 4,300 schools in all 50 states.
4. 98.5% of teachers using ProCon.org report the site helps improve their students' critical thinking skills
5. For every $1 spent by ProCon.org, more than 24 people get a free education on the website.
6. Over 1,000 media references (CNN, BBC, NPR, Forbes, NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, PBS, Fox News, etc.).
7. Won the "Top 25 Free Reference Websites" award from a division of the American Library Association along with TED, Google, and Wikileaks.
8. Used by 11 governments (Australia, Egypt, European Union, Israel, New Zealand, Northern Marianas, Palestinian Territories, Philippines, South Africa, United Kingdom and United States) including 22 US states and 7 federal agencies
9. Guidestar, the nation's largest charity evaluation organization awarded ProCon.org the Gold Participant recognition, its highest honor.
10. Praised by California Superintendent of Public Instruction, Tom Torlakson, on June 11, 2013, who wrote: "As someone who uses ProCon.org personally, I see the great value it can bring to California's students, teachers, and librarians. This free educational resource helps students develop vital 21st century skills such as critical thinking and civics education."

Benjamin Franklin commented on the practical use of pros and cons in a Sep. 9, 1772 letter to his friend Joseph Priestley:

"When these difficult Cases occur, they are difficult chiefly because while we have them under Consideration all the Reasons pro and con are not present to the Mind at the same time... To get over this, my Way is, to divide half a Sheet of Paper by a Line into two Columns, writing over the one Pro, and over the other Con... And tho' the Weight of Reasons cannot be taken with the Precision of Algebraic Quantities, yet when each is thus considered separately and comparatively, and the whole lies before me, I think I can judge better, and am less likely to take a rash Step..."

ProCon.org President and Managing Editor, Kamy Akhavan, remarked: "We have taken this brilliant notion of pros and cons from our founding father and put it on steroids thanks to the Internet and our amazing research staff. The result is a more informed citizenry, which is an end that we think Mr. Franklin would be proud to leave as his part of his enduring legacy."

For information about ProCon.org, visit www.procon.org.

The ProCon.org social media accounts are available at:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/procon.org

Twitter: www.twitter.com/procon_org

Pinterest: www.pinterest.com/proconorg

YouTube: www.youtube.com/proconorg

Tumblr: proconorg.tumblr.com

CONTACT: Kambiz Akhavan 310-587-1407, [email protected]

SOURCE ProCon.org