Lifetime Networks and REDBOOK Magazine Recruit Country Music's Top Stars for 'Every Woman Counts' Campaign to Urge Women to Vote

Lifetime Networks and REDBOOK Magazine Recruit Country Music's Top Stars for 'Every Woman Counts' Campaign to Urge Women to Vote

- "Vote (For Your) Country" Non Partisan Campaign Includes Lifetime Television PSAs and REDBOOK Special November Election Issue -

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Leaving behind their party affiliations, leading female country music stars Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, and Taylor Swift will grace the November cover of REDBOOK and appear in Lifetime Television Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to encourage millions of women to vote. The cover feature and PSAs, called "Vote (For Your) Country" is part of Lifetime's and REDBOOK's nonpartisan, year-long Every Woman Counts campaign to empower and engage women in the political process as voters and future candidates.

   (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081009/NY38112-a   http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081009/NY38112-b )   

"Who better to represent the heart of America at election time than country stars?" says Stacy Morrison, Editor-in-Chief, REDBOOK. "REDBOOK readers have always been huge country fans and so we are thrilled to partner with Lifetime Television in this latest expression of our Every Woman Counts/What We Share campaign, which has been wildly successful in motivating women to speak up and talk about what matters most for our country in politics."

"We are thrilled to work with Reba, the queen of country and star of our hit series, and so many other passionate and talented artists. Thirty-five million eligible women did not vote in 2004. With these powerful and respected country voices and with Lifetime and REDBOOK teaming up to amplify them, we can and will change this statistic and get millions more women to make their voices heard," said Meredith Wagner, Executive Vice President of Public Affairs, Lifetime Networks.

The PSAs will air on Lifetime through the November 4th presidential election and the special REDBOOK issue will be on newsstands starting October 14th. Photos, outtakes and exclusive quotes are also posted on www.redbookmag.com. A constellation of other country superstars -- including Rodney Atkins, Clint Black, Sarah Buxton, Jewel, Julianne Hough, Jack Ingram, Lady Antebellum, Little Big Town, Rissi Palmer, SHeDAISY, Sugarland, Wynonna, Trisha Yearwood and many more -- also appear in the Lifetime PSAs, in the expansive REDBOOK photo spread and on everywomancounts08.com, sharing why they feel voting is so critical and what they would do if they were president.

The reach of this partnership and voting project is enormous. REDBOOK has a circulation of 10 million, and Lifetime, far and away the #1 network for women, is in approximately 97 million homes. In order to reach women everywhere they live, work and play, Lifetime and REDBOOK launched the first-ever Every Woman Counts media and advocacy coalition. Celebrities, experts and hundreds of women's nonprofit organizations joined the cause, bringing together more than 15 million women from all sides of the political spectrum.

The REDBOOK cover feature and Lifetime PSAs were shot at the 43rd Annual Academy of Country Music Awards in Las Vegas in May and in Nashville, where top country music names donated their time.

The project is extremely meaningful to Taylor Swift who said, "The first thing I did this year on my 18th birthday was register to vote. I was still in my pajamas and I got on my computer and registered. It was so cool and empowering. I felt this sense of responsibility that I've never felt before -- I actually had a say in the political decisions of my country."

"There are people in foreign countries who stand in line all day just to be able to vote, and when people here take it for granted, I think it's a shame. If you have a gripe, you have the right to voice it and try to fix it by voting," said Reba McEntire, who hosted the ACM Awards where the shoots in Las Vegas took place.

Martina McBride also feels incredibly proud to lend her voice to the effort to get women to the polls, "I sang the national anthem at the first Monday Night Football game after 9/11. I will never forget hearing 70,000 Americans who were as hurt, confused, and proud as I was sing the words. The compassion, faith, strength, and determination I saw in that time of fear and uncertainty changed the way I view this country forever."

About Lifetime: Lifetime is the leader in women's television and one of the top-rated basic cable television networks. A diverse, multi-media company, LIFETIME is committed to offering the highest quality entertainment and information programming, and advocating a wide range of issues affecting women and their families. LIFETIME Television, Lifetime Movie Network, Lifetime Real Women and Lifetime Digital (including myLifetime.com) are part of LIFETIME Entertainment Services, a 50/50 joint venture of Hearst Corporation and The Walt Disney Company.

About REDBOOK: REDBOOK magazine (www.redbookmag.com) is the total-life guide for every woman who is blazing her own path through adulthood and taking on new roles -- wife, mom, homeowner -- without letting go of the unique woman she's worked so hard to become. Readers can also interact with the brand on the digital front, with REDBOOK mobile (m.redbook.com). REDBOOK reaches over ten million women each month (MRI, Spring 2008) and is published by Hearst Magazines, a unit of Hearst Corporation (www.hearst.com) and one of the world's largest publishers of monthly magazines, with nearly 200 editions around the world, including 18 U.S. titles and 20 magazines in the United Kingdom, published through its wholly owned subsidiary, The National Magazine Company Limited. Redbook publishes an international edition in the United Kingdom, entitled She. Hearst reaches more adults than any other publisher of monthly magazines (75.6 million total adults, according to MRI, Spring 2008).

About Every Woman Counts: First launched in 1992 and now in its fifth presidential election cycle, Every Woman Counts is the only public service campaign dedicated to encouraging women to speak out on the issues they care about most, vote and run for office. Leveraging the top two television networks for women, Lifetime and Lifetime Movie Network, the 2008 Every Woman Counts campaign has the most extensive on-air programming, digital content, and grassroots efforts to date. Lifetime launched the first-ever Every Woman Counts media and advocacy coalition in partnership with REDBOOK, CosmoGIRL!, Marie Claire, celebrities, experts and hundreds of women's nonprofit organizations representing more than 15 million women from all sides of the political spectrum, including American Association of University Women, Business and Professional Women/USA, Independent Women's Forum, League of Women Voters, National Organization for Women, RightNOW!, The White House Project and many others.

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Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081009/NY38112-a
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20081009/NY38112-b

Source: Lifetime

CONTACT: Geralyn Lucas, +1-212-424-7066, lucas@lifetimetv.com, for
Lifetime; Lindsay Galin, +1-212-643-2145, lgalin@hearst.com, for Hearst
Magazines

Web Site: http://m.redbook.com/
http://www.hearst.com/
http://www.redbookmag.com/
http;//everywomancounts08.com
http;//myLifetime.com

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Profile: International Entertainment