Activist and writer Gloria Steinem was honored on Thursday by the University of Missouri School of Journalism. Awarding Steinem the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism, Dean Mills called her a “personal hero and truly a giant of America,” reports the Columbia Missourian. Suzanne Levine, writer and former Ms. magazine editor spoke warmly of Steinem’s influence in both feminism and journalism. Recalling her time at Ms. working with the feminist icon and co-founder of Ms., Levine said, “She helped us understand how each person’s story was a microcosm. She has the absolute conviction that every story was worth telling,” reports the Columbia Missourian.
Steinem, now 70, warned of an “information crisis” in journalism, citing a recent headline that read, “Mrs. Clinton Faints,” reports the Columbia Tribune. “If that had been Ted Kennedy, it would have been ‘Sen. Kennedy Collapses.’ We’re still one step away from swooning and many steps from the White House,” she argued. Steinem stressed the need to uncover the whole truth while urging young journalists to be careful “to know what happened instead of giving the history of a powerful few,” reports the Columbia Tribune. Steinem dedicated the medal to her mother, Ruth Nuneviller Steinem, a pioneering female journalist who gave up her career and encouraged Steinem to write.
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