Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Ms. Magazine Obfuscates on AJC Ad

That's being a bit too complimentary. Ms. Magazine has again tried to explain the unexplainable: the reason why it refused to run an ad submitted by the American Jewish Committee featuring three Israeli women with influential positions.

June Neal has kept on top of things and sent out the following as an email, along with statements from Ms. Magazine and contact information for advertisers.


Friends,

The truth came out.

I am sorry to report that Ms. still refuses to print the AJCongess ad.

I am more sorry that I was correct in my analysis that the initial reason Ms. gave for its denial was not the truth: it wasn't that Ms. feared supporting a single political party. (See Document 1)

Ms. did not want to support Israel. It came out in editor Katherine Spillar's letter that appeared, not in Ms. magazine, but on the website of the Ms. foundation, The Feminist Majority. (See Document 2)

Ms. tried to throw us a bone with a story on Tsipi Livni. They indicated she'll likely be the next prime minister. Nothing about Israel, the country that both allows and encourages women to hold top government positions.

In fact, in her website statement, Spillar attacks Israel as being way behind on women's rights.

Please note, that this is the same magazine that gave Queen Noor a cover story. She who represents a culture that is more advanced in women's rights? Hardly.

Please note, Ms. gave Nancy Pelosi a cover story. She represents more than one political party? Hardly. (Spillar argues that the story did not specifically claim Pelosi represents the United States, as the AJC ad claimed the women represented Israel. Come now. The obvious implication of that story is that the U.S. is a place where women can hold high positions. Yet Spillar charges we are no better than evolved on women's rights than Israel. She can't have it both ways.

As promised, I have compiled the list of advertisers in the Winter Issue of Ms. Magazine.

Getting names of the people in charge wasn't easy. Some refused because of security reasons. Others agreed to give me the names, but not the e-mails, yet provided the e-mail of a pass-through person.

If you wish to write letters to the advertisers, here are some major points:

  • Ms. magazine refused an ad that portrayed Israel as a country where women hold high public offices.
  • It's excuse that it didn't want to appear to support just one political party in Israel but the women in the ad represented more than one party.
  • Ms. was supporting nothing anyway; it wasn't an editorial, but a paid ad.


How many political parties does Queen Noor represent? And how is her nation and culture more advanced in women's rights that Israel's? (The Jews in Palestine established a major Women's Rights movement established in 1921! )

Nancy Pelosi got a cover story. Last I checked, she represents only one party in the U.S. Ms. claims the U.S. is no better on women's rights than Israel, yet the story certainly implies that the U.S.is a place where women can indeed hold high offices, support for a country they wouldn't give to Israel.

Then, the real reason for the refusal came out in Editor Katherine Spillar's statement on the Feminist Majority website: Ms. does not want to support Israel.

Ask the advertisers to call on the editors of Ms. to run the ad.

If you wish, you may note that if they don't run the AJC ad, you will not buy the advertisers' products or services or donate to their non-profits and will encourage hundreds of friends, colleagues and fellow organization members to do the same.

Thanks to those of you who copied me in your letters of protest to Ms. magazine. (Many more from men than women!) Let's see if they print any of them in the next issue. Printed or not, the editors and board members read them and know there is great opposition to their poor decision.

Kindly forward this to your trusted e-mail lists and I would very much appreciate feedback.

Many thanks

June




Document 1

For Immediate Release
January 14, 2008

Contact: 310 556 2500
Statement of Katherine Spillar, executive editor
Ms. magazine concerning the AJCongress ad

Ms. magazine has been criticized for not running an ad submitted by the American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) featuring the photographs of three prominent Israeli women leaders with the statement This is Israel. In its press release, AJCongress claims that Ms. therefore must be 'hostile to Israel'. This is untrue and unfair.

Ms. covers women leaders across the globe. Ironically, the current issue just now hitting newsstands features msmagazine.com/winter2008/MsWinterGlobalIsrael.pdf a major story profiling Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni, highlighting her career and accomplishments. Livni was one of the women pictured in the AJCongress ad. Ms. had previously reported on Dorit Beinish, also pictured in the ad, becoming the first woman president of Israel's Supreme Court. Over the past four years (16 issues) Ms. has covered the Israeli feminist movement and women leaders in Israel no fewer than eleven times.

The mission of Ms. is to report on U.S. and global struggles to combat sex discrimination and oppression and to provide feminists everywhere with the information they need to take action to win equality for women and girls. Ms. policy is to accept only mission-driven advertisements from primarily non-profit, non-partisan organizations that promote women's equality, social justice, sustainable environment, and non-violence.

In Ms. magazine's judgment, the ad submitted by AJCongress for consideration was inconsistent with this policy. Not only could the ad be seen as favoring certain political parties within Israel over other parties, but also with its slogan This is Israel, the ad implied that women in Israel hold equal positions of power with men. Israel, like every other country, has far to go to reach equality for women. As the Israel Women's Network notes: Women have consistently received symbolic representation in Israeli politics, at least sufficient enough to generate the myth of an open and egalitarian system.

Indeed Israeli writers have reported in the pages of Ms. on the continuing efforts of the Israeli feminist movement to combat discrimination and achieve a larger voice for women in the country's political arena.

In a feature length story in the Spring 2006 issue of Ms., Israeli feminist scholar/activist Alice Shalvi catalogued the ongoing struggles to rectify such inequalities, including increasing women's representation in elected office and at the table negotiating for peace in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Women only comprise 14% of the Israeli Knesset, placing Israel 74th in the world for women's representation in government.

The AJCongress press release compared its ad with the cover story Ms. ran when Congressmember Nancy Pelosi was elected Speaker of the House. However, when Ms. featured Speaker Pelosi on its cover with the words This is What a Speaker Looks Like, we did not claim that This is what the USA looks like. Far from it, since women comprise only 17% of the Congress, ranking 65th in the world in women's representation, and continue to face discrimination in every aspect of American society.




Document 2

January 11, 2008
Contact: 310 556 2500

Statement of Katherine Spillar, executive editor Ms. magazine
concerning AJCongress ad
January 11, 2008

Ms. magazine has been criticized for not running an ad submitted by the American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) featuring the photographs of three prominent Israeli women leaders with the statement This is Israel. In its press release criticizing Ms., AJCongress has taken the position that Ms. therefore must be 'Äòhostile to Israel'. This is untrue and unfair.

Ms. frequently covers women leaders from around the globe. Indeed, the current issue just now hitting newsstands, features a major story profiling Israel's Foreign Affairs Minister Tzipi Livni, highlighting her career and accomplishments. Livni was one of the women pictured in the AJCongress ad.

Ms. magazine's policy, however, is to only accept mission-driven advertisements from primarily non-profit, non-partisan organizations that promote women's equality, social justice, sustainable environment, and non-violence. The ad submitted by AJCongress for consideration appeared to be a political ad, and as such, was inconsistent with this policy. With two of the women featured in the ad from one political party in Israel, Ms. concluded that in accepting the ad it could be viewed as though it was supporting one political party over another in the internal domestic politics of a country.

Katherine Spillar
Executive Vice President
Feminist Majority Foundation
Executive Editor, Ms. magazine
433 South Beverly Drive
Beverly Hills, California 90212
kspillar@feminist.org
310 556 2500 phone
310 556 2509 fax




List of advertisers for the Winter Issue of Ms. magazine

Powell's Books
Portland, Oregon
www.powells.com
Michael Powell, president
c/oe-mail: press@powells.com

Legal Momentum
www.legalmomentum.org
e-mail: policy@legalmomentum.org
Attention: Kathy Rodgers, President

International Planned Parenthood Federation (Western Hemisphere Region)
www.ippfwhr.org
e-mail: info@ippfwhr.org
Attention: Dr. Carmen Barroso, Regional Director

National Women's History Project
www.nwhp.org
Edna Molly MacGregor, Executive Director and Co-Founder
e-mail: ednasmolly@aol.com

Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media
www.thegeenadavisinstitute.org
Crystal Cook
Project director
c/o: chelsie@annabellestevens.com
310-385-8444

Campaign for America's Future
www.ourfuture.org
Brian Albert
Chief Operating Officer
c/o
e-mail: tbanks@ourfuture.org
202-955-5665

Inner Traditions and Bear Co.

www.InnerTraditions.com
Ehud Sperling
President
e-mail: Officeofthepres@innertraditions.com

Herizons (Canada's feminist magazine)
www.Herizons.ca
Penny Mitchell
Editor
e-mail: editor@herizons.ca
1-888-408-0028

The Shape of Water movie
www.theshapeofwatermovie.com
e-mail: info@theshapeofwatermovie.com
Attention: Kum-Kum Bhavnani

Beacon Press
www.beacon.org
Helen Atwan, Director
c/o Alex Kapitan, Ass't to the Director
e-mail: akapitan@beacon.org

Routledge Publishers, part of
Taylor & Francis Group and
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
www.Routledge.com
Steven Rutter
Editor, Social Science Division
e-mail: Steve.rutter@taylorandfrancis.com

The Johns Hopkins University Press
www.press.jhu.edu
Kathleen Keane, Director
e-mail: kk@press.jhu.edu

The University of Chicago Press
www.journals.uchicago.edu
Everett Conner
Interim Journals Manager
e-mail: econner@press.uchicago.edu

Feminist Abortion Network
Women's Health Center Clinics
www.fwhc.org
Joan Schrammeck
Development and Communications Director
e-mail: info@fwhc.org

Farrar Straus Giroux
www.fsgbooks.com
Editorial Department
e-mail: fsg.editorial@fsgbooks.com

National Association of Women Business Owners
www.nawbo.org
Erin M. Fuller, Executive Director
e-mail: efuller@nawbo.org

The National Council for Research on Women
www.ncrw.org
e-mail: ncrw@ncrw.org
Attention: Linda Basch, president

bitch magazine
www.bitchmagazine.com
Editor
e-mail: bitch@bitchmagazine.com

National Women Studies Association
www.nwsa.org
Allison Kimmich, Executive Director
e-mail: Allison.Kimmich@nwsa.org

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