Ms. Magazine Returns to Newsstands

Posted on March 30, 1999

Editors Marcia Ann Gillespie and Gloria Steinem unveil the first edition of Ms. magazine under the newly established all women-owned Liberty Media for Women, LLC. "Ms. has been liberated by a new breed of women activists and investors who put their money and time where their hearts are," says Gloria Steinem. "Nothing changes the gender equation more significantly than women's economic freedom."

A founding editor of Ms., Steinem is currently a consulting editor and Chairperson of Liberty Media for Women. The newly formed media consortium of feminists ranges from teenagers to septuagenarians -- Liberty Media for Women member shareholders include Sandy Lerner, co-founder of Cisco Systems, philanthropist and activist Abby Disney and sister philanthropists Anne and Allison Kiehl Friedman.

"At 15 years old, I am in the unique situation of being able to actively support a publication that presents women as positive role models because they are strong and capable," says high school student Anne Kiehl Friedman, "not because they have flat stomachs and perfect teeth. Ms. is one of the few magazines that inspires girls to do more than lose weight." Her sister, Stanford University undergraduate Allison Kiehl Friedman adds, "I invested in Ms. because I am taking a class entitled The American Dream on racial, gender and class equality. Many of the readings end with 'first published in Ms. magazine.'"

On newsstands today, the April/May issue covers an exciting range of important issues including adultery (heterosexual and lesbian), facts on face-lifts, female presidential candidates and women priests. "As the only general interest magazine for women, we have no competition," says Marcia Ann Gillespie, Editor-in-Chief of Ms. and the President of Liberty Media for Women. "Ms. is the women's magazine that raises a ruckus about the economic, political and social equality of women and will never talk about how the right makeup will change your life. Our goal is to stir the pot, question the recipe, turn up the heat."