For Immediate Release

July 9, 2002

New Editor-in-Chief for Ms. Magazine

Investigative Journalist Tracy Wood to Lead Feminist Publication

LOS ANGELES – Tracy Wood, award-winning investigative journalist, will lead Ms. magazine under its new ownership by the Feminist Majority Foundation.

Peg Yorkin, FMF board chair, made the announcement today in Los Angeles, at the new editorial headquarters of Ms. magazine. “Ms. as an independent voice has never been more crucial with the corporate centralization of today’s media,” Yorkin said.

“With a seasoned investigative reporter and editor at the helm,” said Eleanor Smeal, FMF president, “Ms. can expose news in a way that makes news – that’s the ultimate goal. Ms. also gives readers the next step, which is how to take action.”

Gloria Steinem, co-founder of Ms. magazine, said: “Tracy Wood’s leadership will allow Ms. to maximize its unique advantage as a reader-supported magazine, with no pressure from advertisers. It can investigate the subjects that few other media – and no traditional women’s magazines – can pursue.”

Tracy Wood was a combat correspondent in Vietnam for United Press International. She jointly authored War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam, which will be published in August by Random House. She served as acting bureau chief for UPI in Cambodia, news editor for UPI in Hong Kong/Macao, and foreign correspondent for UPI throughout Asia.

In 1976, Wood returned to the U.S. to become an investigative reporter for the Los Angeles Times, where she remained for 17 years. She exposed the largest case of political money laundering and use of prostitutes in California history. She also covered such historic stories as the Rodney King beating, the 1992 Los Angeles riots, and corruption within hospitals and the Los Angeles School District.

Most recently, she was Investigations Editor for the Orange County Register, where she led the team that produced the groundbreaking series, the Body Brokers, an expose of the sale of human body parts. As a result of her reporting career, more than 40 elected officials and their associates have gone to prison, been indicted or fined. In 2000, Wood was named the Los Angeles Print Journalist of the Year by the Society for Professional Journalists. She is also currently completing a novel, “And the Devil Came Down,” the story of a present-day murder that has its roots in a murder 300 years ago.

“Ms. will expose the problems that women face across the globe, and will launch Ms. World – featuring women writers from many countries, writing with a boundary-free consciousness,” Wood said. “We will initiate powerful investigations, offer solutions, and show women and men the path to strong, positive equality.

“Ms. will also expand its tradition as a place to discover new fiction writers, activists, health news, humor, media reviews, profiles, and feminist theory. I’m going to have a good time, and I’m going to make sure Ms. readers do, too.”

Co-founded by Gloria Steinem in 1972, Ms. became a prize-winning, national and international forum for women and men exploring the events and ideas of the movement for equality worldwide. A source for other news media, movies, TV series, and university courses, Ms. has become a friend, a measure and marker of change, in the lives of millions of people. In December 2001, Ms. ownership was transferred to the Feminist Majority Foundation, where it will maintain its own independent staff and advisory board. In addition to new editorial office in Los Angeles, Ms. will open a bureau in Washington, D.C.

For further information and interview requests, contact Emilie Karrick at (703) 522-2214, ekarrick@feminist.org or Elizabeth Koenig at (310) 556-2515, ekoenig@feminist.org.

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