Ms. Magazine

Publication History

In 1979, Ms. became a not-for-profit publication. This shift was motivated by the fact that the magazine had been losing revenue annually (approximately $500,000 per year) since 1974. Not-for-profit status allowed the periodical to access the substantially lower postage costs for not-for-profit publications; also, as a not-for-profit, Ms. ran under the auspices of the Ms. Foundation for Women and Education, receiving additional support through the fund-raising activities of the organization.

Despite its not-for-profit status, Ms. continued to suffer financial difficulties during the 1980s. The magazine was sold to the Australian company Fairfax in 1987. Although readership soared to 548,708 in 1988 under the leadership of Anne Summers and Sandra Yates, the publication was widely perceived as having lost its critical feminist edge. The periodical was repoliticized in 1989 with the “It's War” issue, which took a strong pro-choice stance on abortion. The issue resulted in the withdrawal of many advertisers. As a result of its flagging revenue, the magazine was put on temporary hiatus, relaunching in 1990 as an ad-free publication under the editorial direction of Robin Morgan.

In her inaugural editorial, Morgan recommitted Ms. to representing greater diversity among women in terms of both writers and topics covered within the magazine. Coverage of countries other than the United States would be written by women from those countries, and a Board of International Advisors was established. These changes attempted to respond to criticisms leveled at Ms. for inadequately addressing diverse women. Since 2001, Ms. has been published by Liberty Media for Women, LLC, which is owned by the Feminist Majority Foundation, a U.S.-based nonprofit organization.

Unlike many second-wave periodicals, which were explicitly organized as collective endeavors, from the very beginning of its publication history Ms. adopted a more formal organizational structure similar to other commercial magazines, with discrete editorial and publishing staff, although early mastheads attempted to disrupt traditional magazine hierarchy by listing staff names alphabetically. Currently, staff members’ roles include executive and managing editors, proofreaders, a strategic planning/marketing adviser, and interns. Additionally, Ms. is informed by a committee of scholars, each of whom represents an area of Women's Studies scholarship relevant to contemporary feminist concerns.

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