Ms. Magazine

Known for: feminist stands. After changing to an ad-free format, became known as well for exposing the control that many advertisers assert over content in women's magazines.

Founded by Gloria Steinem and others, with a subsidy for the first issue from Clay Felker, editor of New York magazine, which had hosted an abbreviated issue of Ms. as an insert in 1971. With funding from Warner Communications, Ms. was launched as a monthly in the summer of 1972. By 1978, it had become a nonprofit magazine published by the Ms. Foundation for Education and Communication.

In 1987, an Australian company bought Ms., and Steinem became a consultant rather than editor. A few years later, the magazine changed hands again, and many readers stopped subscribing because the look and direction seemed to have changed too much. In 1989, Ms. magazine returned -- as a nonprofit organization and ad-free magazine. Steinem inaugurated the new look with a stinging editorial exposing the control that advertisers attempt to assert over content in women's magazines.

The title of Ms. magazine came from the then-current controversy over the "correct" title for women. Men had "Mr." which gave no indication of their marital status; etiquette and business practices demanded that women use either "Miss" or "Mrs." Many women did not want to be defined by their marital status, and for a growing number of women who kept their last name after marriage, neither "Miss" nor "Mrs." was technically a correct title in front of that last name.