Ms. Magazine Begins Latest Makeover
Ms. magazine will undergo the latest relaunch in its 30-year history, under the direction of a new editor, Tracy Wood, a former investigative journalist. The magazine will begin bimonthly publication in October after recently publishing two retrospective issues. The hiring of Wood was made public last week at the magazine's new editorial headquarters in Los Angeles.
"Tracy Wood's leadership will allow Ms. to maximize its unique advantage as a reader-supported magazine, with no pressure from advertisers," says Gloria Steinem, Ms. magazine's co-founder. "It can investigate the subjects that few other media—and no traditional women's magazine—can pursue."
Ms. will publish without commercial advertising running just 15 ad pages for the October issue provided by nonprofit organizations. The editors will determine what ads are acceptable to the Feminist Majority Foundation, which purchased the publication in December. In lieu of commercial advertising, the foundation will rely on fund raising activities and circulation to raise money.
Wood's background includes a stint as a combat correspondent in Vietnam for United Press International. She also served as acting bureau chief for UPI in Cambodia, news editor for UPI in Hong Kong/Macao, and as a foreign correspondent for UPI throughout Asia. Upon returning home in 1976 she began a 17-year career with the Los Angeles Times.
She recently co-authored War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam, which will be published in August. Her most recent position was investigations editor for the Orange County Register.
