Ann Friedman is an American magazine editor, journalist, podcaster, and pie chart artist. She writes about gender, politics, and social issues. She sends out a weekly email newsletter. Previously, she was deputy editor for The American Prospect, executive editor at the Los Angeles-based GOOD magazine, and a co-founder of the employee-driven, crowd-sourced spin-off Tomorrow magazine.
Friedman started off at the Mother Jones' copy desk. Her online editing career began when she took the managing editor position for AlterNet and became an editor at Feministing. After taking a position with The American Prospect as web editor she was promoted to deputy editor from 2008 to 2010. She wrote freelance before her next editing position. In March 2011, Friedman became the executive editor at GOOD magazine. After GOOD fired staff, she co-founded Tomorrow. Her freelance writings have been published by Rolling Stone, The New Republic, Newsweek, Glamour, ELLE, and Columbia Journalism Review. Her feminist writings and commentary about politics, popular culture, attitudes about men and women and gay rights, and dating and sex have been widely referenced and quoted by other journalists and editorial writers. Friedman writes a politics column at NYMag.com, publishes pie-charts at The Hairpin, disperses RealTalk advice for journalists at the Columbia Journalism Review, and contributes to The New Republic. She is a proponent of incorporating GIFs in journalism. Friedman was the founder of the Lady Journos’Tumblr site, which curates the accomplishments and works by female journalists, speaks to issues of gender disparity in hiring and sexism in the workplace. Friedman, and her colleague Aminatou Sow popularized the term "Shine Theory". The term is in reference to the commitment to collaborating with each other instead of competing against each other. The term first appeared in Friedman's article for The Cut for NYMag.com in 2013.
''GOOD'' magazine
Friedman worked at The American Prospect until she quit in 2010 to pick up more freelance writing work. The Los Angeles-based GOOD magazine hired her as executive editor in March 2011. As the executive editor, Friedman focused on moving the GOOD brand over multiple platforms and bringing a youthful style to its content, but that vision conflicted with the management. She was subsequently fired along with most of the magazine's editors in June 2012. Friedman and her GOOD colleagues started a crowd-funded one-off magazine called Tomorrow. That project was backed via Kickstarter, and raised $30,000 more than expected.
Awards and recognition
Ann Friedman won the 2004 Hearst Award for personality/profile writing. Before that she had won the Telegraph Herald Scholastic Journalist Award. Friedman was among Columbia Journalism Review's "20 women to watch" in its July 2012 issue. In 2013, Tomorrow magazine was nominated for an Utne Media Award.
Friedman co-hosts the podcast Call Your Girlfriend with her friend, tech entrepreneur Aminatou Sow. The podcast is described as a cultural phenomenon where the hosts discuss politics and pop culture, among other things. They started the podcast at the behest of their mutual friend Gina Delvac, who serves as the show's producer.
Book
Friedman and Aminatou Sow co-wrote Big Friendship: How We Keep Each Other Close which was released July 17, 2020.
