this effort to endThe Howard Stern Showhad proven
unsuccessful.
While the battle over Stern’s right to free speech
played out in the press, his fame and exposure grew.
Stern branched out into television (the cable chan-
nel E! began airing a half-hour daily excerpt of his
show in 1994), books (his first memoir,Private Parts,
debuted at number one onThe New York Timesbest-
seller list in 1993; a second memoir,Miss America, was
published in 1995), politics (he ran an aborted cam-
paign as a libertarian candidate for governor of New
York in 1994), and film (Private Partswas made into a
film starring Stern in 1997).
Impact Howard Stern was a polarizing figure in the
brewing culture wars of the 1990’s. While many were
taken aback by his shocking and politically incorrect
statements, there was also concern about move-
ments to get him off the air. Because so much of what
he said was disturbing and outside the mainstream,
he made for an excellent test case on the rights of
free speech in the media.
Further Reading
Bachman, Katy. “Stern Words for Howard.”Media-
Week9, no. 41 (November 1, 1999): 14-16.
Colford, Paul D.Howard Stern: King of All Media. New
York: St. Martin’s Press, 1996.
Regal, Brian.Radio: The Life Stor y of a Technology.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005.
Julie Elliott
See also Cable television; Censorship; Culture
wars; Talk radio.
Stewart, Martha
Identification American businesswoman, home
economist, author, and media personality
Born August 3, 1941; Jersey City, New Jersey
Stewart transformed a home-based catering business into a
multibillion-dollar media franchise centered upon her im-
age as a consummate hostess, food expert, and do-it-yourself
decorator.
A former model, stockbroker, and caterer, Martha
Stewart released her best-selling first book,Enter-
taining, in 1982. Over the next several years, she pub-
lished additional food books and a popular wedding
planner that extended her name recognition and
provided the foundation upon which the Martha
Stewart brand was built. In 1986, she made her debut
as a featured host on “Holiday Entertaining with
Martha Stewart,” a public television special; the suc-
cess of the program, distributed as a mail-order
video, brought Stewart additional television oppor-
tunities.
In 1990, Stewart launched a new lifestyle maga-
zine,Martha Stewart Living, an instant success and a
forerunner of other celebrity-based women’s gloss-
ies such as Oprah Winfrey’sO, along with spin-off
television programs, videos, and books. Stewart’s
deal with Time Warner also included regular ap-
pearances on the National Broadcasting Company
(NBC) morning programThe Today Show.
In 1993, Stewart launched a television version of
her magazine, also titled Martha Stewart Living,
which was produced through a subsidiary of Time
and syndicated throughout the country. With Stew-
art as the show’s host, the series became one of the810 Stewart, Martha The Nineties in America
Martha Stewart on CBS’sThe Early Showin 1997.(CBS/
Landov)