For Immediate Release:Contact: Matt Rothschild or Ruth Conniff(608) 257-4626(608) 239-4747 Ruth Conniff
The Progressive Hires New Editor to Lead Venerable Magazine
Ruth Conniff Takes Over with New Ideas
MADISON, WI--The Progressive has promoted Ruth Conniff to be editor of this 104-year-old magazine.
Conniff, who has been with The Progressive for 20 years, was serving as political editor, and prior to that, as Washington editor. She is a frequent guest on "The Ed Show" on MSNBC and PBS's "To the Contrary."
Conniff replaces Matthew Rothschild, who will remain as senior editor and publisher of The Progressive, which was founded in 1909 by Sen. Robert "Fighting Bob" La Follette.
"There simply is no better person in the country than Ruth Conniff to lead The Progressive forward," says Rothschild. "She reveres the tradition of The Progressive, and she has great energy and exciting ideas for taking this esteemed journalistic organization to the next level."
"I am honored to be part of The Progressive's great tradition, and I'm excited about the magazine's future," said Conniff. "Our part in what Fighting Bob La Follette called 'the struggle between equal rights and special privilege' has never been more relevant than it is today."
Conniff has already pioneered the development of The Progressive's e-books. She is supervising a relaunch of The Progressive's website, progressive.org, and is hiring a new web editor. And just in time for back to school, she is launching a new website, publicschoolshakedown.org, to serve as a clearinghouse for people who support public education and who need more information about the pernicious drive to privatize our schools. Both in the magazine and on its websites, she is focusing on the progressive activism that is going on at the grassroots. In addition, The Progressive is co-sponsoring Fighting Bob Fest, the premier annual gathering of progressive voices in the Midwest, for the first time on September 7 this year.
"Ruth Conniff has spent two decades developing into one of the finest journalists and editors of our times," says Robert W. McChesney, media scholar at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. "She combines that experience with a vitality, energy, and lack of cynicism that is rare. The Progressive is extremely fortunate to have a person of this caliber become its editor."
Conniff, 44, lives in Madison with her husband and their three daughters.