Ms. Magazine

U.S. progressive left / feminist

Background

Ms. Magazine was founded in 1972 by feminist activists Gloria Steinem and Dorothy Pittman Hughes, launching first as an insert in New York Magazine before becoming a standalone national publication. It was the first widely circulated U.S. women's magazine to center the women's rights movement rather than lifestyle and homemaking content, and it quickly became a flagship voice of second-wave feminism. The magazine ran monthly until 1987, then shifted to a quarterly schedule amid financial difficulties. Through the 1990s it changed ownership several times, including a period under an Australian media company and then a consortium of feminist investors called Liberty Media for Women. In 2001, chronic financial losses led to a transfer of ownership to the Feminist Majority Foundation, which has published it ever since as part of its advocacy mission. Under foundation ownership the magazine moved away from advertising dependency and toward a reader-supported, nonprofit model. Media Bias/Fact Check rates it Left-leaning with a high score for factual accuracy. It has covered Trump's first and second administrations with sustained criticism, particularly on reproductive rights, women in the workforce, and what it describes as rollbacks of women's legal protections.

Sources

1. Ms. (Magazine) - Bias and Credibility - Media Bias/Fact Check
2. About Ms. - Ms. Magazine
3. Ms. | History & Facts | Britannica
4. About Ms. - Smith College Libraries Research Guide
5. Ms. Magazine | National Women's History Museum
6. Ms. Magazine Bias and Reliability | Ad Fontes Media
7. Prepared and Defiant: Ms. Magazine's Vision for the Feminist Fights Ahead

Profile compiled 2026-08-13; refreshed when ownership, funding, or the administration changes.

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