Women in Journalism

From Reckoning to Backlash, Black Women Reflect on the Stakes of the Moment

In 2020, the killing of George Floyd shocked Americans into action and into the streets by the millions, protesting the unrelenting killing of Black people by police. 

The moment sparked a nascent reckoning in America around systemic racism and institutional inequality—in many cases, with Black women at the center. Already the backbone of our democracy, many were called on to also be a bridge to racial healing.

Five years later, many of these same Black women find themselves at the center of a backlash, confronted with attacks on the diversity, equity and inclusion efforts that were previously championed.

Still Naming the Problem: A New Film Premiering at Tribeca, Then Heading to HBO, Celebrates the Radical Origins—and Ongoing Impact—of Ms. Magazine

This month, the powerful new documentary Dear Ms.: A Revolution in Print, celebrating the trailblazing history and enduring impact of Ms. magazine, premieres at the Tribeca Film Festival. With intimate interviews, rare archival footage and excerpts from the Ms. book, 50 Years of Ms.: The Best of the Pathfinding Magazine That Ignited a Revolution (September 2023, Knopf), the filmmakers shine a spotlight on the magazine’s early days as a radical force for feminism, equality and truth-telling. 

It’s a thrilling and timely reminder: Ms. has always named the problem—and we still do.

If you’re in New York City June 10-15, we’d love for you to see it! If you can’t make it to a screening, don’t worry: The film will stream on HBO Max starting in July.

‘More Cash, Less Paperwork’: Mothers on the Frontlines of Poverty Are Telling Their Stories. Are We Listening?

We are living in challenging times. Fundamental rights are under attack, the economy is teetering on the edge of a recession, and our already-insufficient social safety net’s holes grow larger by the day. It is never easy to live in poverty in America, but the past four-plus months have managed to make a bad situation worse.

As I often say, policy only changes at the speed of narrative. And unless we start truly listening to the real stories of families living in poverty—with all their challenges, joys, complications and layers—we won’t be able to change poverty policy in this country.

Complete Ms. Magazine Archive Now Available Digitally—Free to Students, Educators and Activists Through University and Public Libraries

For the first time ever, every issue of Ms. magazine—from its historic debut in 1972 to today—is available in a fully digitized, searchable, high-resolution format. The newly launched Ms. Magazine Archive offers unprecedented digital access to over five decades of feminist journalism, activism and scholarship.

This groundbreaking collection is set to transform how feminism and social change are taught and studied. With its extensive coverage of gender justice movements—past and present—the Ms. archive provides rich, accessible content and a powerful set of pedagogical tools for courses in women’s and gender studies, history, political science, media studies, journalism and more.

‘This Is About Life or Death’: Leading Feminists Discuss Women’s Rights in Post-Roe America

Clara Bingham, Jamia Wilson and Jessica Valenti on the state of abortion access and the feminist resistance rising up in every state in the U.S.:

“The 14th Amendment is what antiabortion activists are using right now to fight for fetal personhood. Anytime you see the 14th Amendment mentioned, that’s what it’s about.”

“We are no longer first-class citizens in banned states.”

“There are countries in this world where the pro-life movement is the movement that is about choice. … They’re surprised when they hear the framing of pro-life being used to dominate and control women’s bodies.”

“As terrible as things are every single day, in every single community and in every single state, there are rooms full of women, and there are rooms full of activists who are working their asses off, who are using their time, their money, their energy to make sure that if someone needs care, they can get it, whether or not we see it.”

I Didn’t Know I Was a First-Generation College Student Until After I Crossed the Stage

I didn’t know I was a first-generation college graduate until after I shouldered my way across the stage with my degree. Six years, three schools, multiple majors and one abortion later, I’d done what only 27.4 percent of students like me manage to do: finish. I didn’t get there because the system worked. I got there in spite of it.

Fewer than one in three first-generation students graduate in four years. Without DEI programs and support, too many are left to navigate impossible odds alone—without the guidance, resources or safety nets they deserve.

‘Feminism, Fascism and the Future’: Sociologist Laurie Essig on Dissolving Democracies in Russia and the U.S.

Sociologist and author Laurie Essig has decades of experience studying and visiting Russia (and before that, the Soviet Union). Her first book, Queer in Russia, chronicles and analyzes the time between the dissolution of the USSR and the solidification of Putin’s non- (or anti-)democratic rule in Russia.

As Trump’s second term intensifies anti-gender rhetoric, sociologist Laurie Essig draws chilling parallels between rising U.S. authoritarianism and decades of state-sponsored repression in Putin’s Russia.

“One of the things we can learn from Russia is just how important resistance is. There were moments when things could have gone differently. They didn’t, but I don’t think that was pre-ordained. …

“Every strongman, every dictator we look at, had anxiety about masculinity.”

Trump Officials Trolling Journalists Is Just the Tip of the Iceberg

When The Atlantic’s editor-in-chief Jeffrey Goldberg revealed last month that he had inadvertently been invited into a Signal group chat of senior U.S. national security officials, the news dominated headlines, cable broadcasts and social media for several days.

While Democratic lawmakers called for an investigation into the incident, Trump officials set their sights elsewhere: on Goldberg himself. The harassment Goldberg faced was an unusually intense pile-on, but it underscores the increasingly common trend of targeting individual journalists by administration officials and even President Donald Trump.

“You can be a little heartened by the extent to which the administration is going after the news media, because it is probably the biggest threat to their agenda,” said Elisa Lees Muñoz, executive director of the Washington-based International Women’s Media Foundation. “It does speak to the power of the news media as the ultimate source of holding people to account.”