Nonprofit Feminist Group Acquires Ms. Magazine
The nonprofit organization Feminist Majority Foundation said it will acquire Ms. Magazine publisher Liberty Media for Women LLC.The new owner will put out its first issue early next year.
"We are committed to making sure that the Ms. voice thrives as the forum for challenging conventional ideas and a springboard for the development and spread of feminist ideas," Eleanor Smeal, president of the Feminist Majority Foundation, said in a statement.
Ms. was co-founded by Gloria Steinem in 1972 and had a succession of owners through the '80s and '90s such as Fairfax, Lang Communications and MacDonald Communications. In 1998, Steinem and a group of 14 female investors bought the publication and relaunched it the following year along with a Web site, www.msmagazine.com.
The Feminist Majority's ownership will transfer the editorial, administrative, circulation and production facilities of Ms. from New York to its offices in Los Angeles. The direct marketing functions will be carried out from the organization's Arlington, VA, offices.
The deal will close by early December, but financial details were not disclosed, according to reports.
Marcia Ann Gillespie, the current editor-in-chief, said she could not comment on the details of the transfer. Feminist Majority Foundation could not be reached for comment.
