Mother Jones (magazine)

Mother Jones

Mother Jones magazine March April 2014 cover
Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery
Categories Politics
Frequency Bimonthly
Total circulation
(2012)		 203,251[1]
First issue February 1976
Company Foundation For National Progress
Country United States
Based in San Francisco
Language English
Website www.motherjones.com
ISSN 0362-8841

Mother Jones (abbreviated MoJo) is a progressive American magazine featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Clara Jeffery serves as editor. Steve Katz has been publisher since 2010. Monika Bauerlein has been CEO since 2015.[2][3][4]

The magazine was named after Mary Harris Jones, known as Mother Jones, an Irish-American trade union activist and ardent opponent of child labor.[5] The stated mission of Mother Jones is to produce revelatory journalism that in its power and reach informs and inspires a more just and democratic world.[6]

Mother Jones is published by the Foundation for National Progress (FNP), a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization. Mother Jones and the FNP are based in San Francisco, with other offices in Washington, D.C., and New York.[7]

History

For the first five years after its inception in 1976,[8] Mother Jones operated with an editorial board, and members of the board took turns serving as managing editor for one-year terms. People who served on the editorial team during those years included Adam Hochschild, Paul Jacobs, Richard Parker, Deborah Johnson, Jeffrey Bruce Klein, Mark Dowie, Amanda Spake, Zina Klapper, and Deirdre English. According to Hochschild, Parker, "who worked as both editor and publisher, saw to it that Mother Jones took the best of what could be learned from the world of commercial publishing."[6]

In 1981, Deirdre English was named the magazine’s first editor-in-chief, a position she held until 1986. A strong feminist, she brought women’s voices to the fore in the magazine and oversaw considerable coverage of Central America, the Sandinistas, and the Contras. She also brought in Barbara Ehrenreich as a regular columnist.

Michael Moore, who had owned and published the Flint-based Michigan Voice for ten years, followed English and edited Mother Jones for several months. After being fired in the fall of 1986, Moore sued Mother Jones for $2 million for wrongful termination, but settled with the magazine’s insurance company for $58,000—only $8,000 over the initial offering. Moore felt that he did not have a chance to shape the magazine. Many of the articles that were printed during his time as editor were articles that had already been commissioned by Deirdre English. For example, a Paul Berman article about Nicaragua—commissioned by English—was slightly critical of the Sandinistas, whom Mother Jones typically supported. Moore did not want to print it, but the magazine had made a commitment to Berman. The Nation columnist Alexander Cockburn believed the disagreement over the Berman article was the sole reason for Moore's firing, but Hochschild and others at the magazine denied this.[9][10]

For his part, Moore said in his 1989 documentary film Roger & Me that he was terminated because he put the face of Ben Hamper on the cover of an issue, an act of defiance after being refused an opportunity to write about the GM plant closings in his hometown of Flint, Michigan.

Douglas Foster, an Emmy-winning TV producer and a writer who had covered labor issues for Mother Jones in the 1970s, followed Moore as editor. During his tenure as editor, the magazine featured regular columns from Molly Ivins, Roger Wilkins, and Ralph Nader. It also excerpted Randy Shilts' groundbreaking book, And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic.

In the fall of 1992, Jeffrey Bruce Klein, one of the original members of the editorial team, returned as editor-in-chief, bringing an intense focus on Washington politics, including extensive coverage of Newt Gingrich, campaign finance, and the tobacco industry. He was a frequent guest on radio and television shows, spearheaded many collaborations between the magazine and website, and brought comedian Paula Poundstone on as a regular columnist.

Roger Cohn succeeded Klein as editor-in-chief in 1999. Cohn brought to the forefront environmental and social justice stories from around the country. It was during his tenure that the 25-year-old magazine won a 2001 National Magazine Award for General Excellence.

Russ Rymer was named editor-in-chief in early 2005, and under his tenure the magazine published more essays and extensive packages of articles on domestic violence (July/August 2005),[11] and the role of religion in politics (December 2005).[12]

In August 2006, Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery were promoted from within to become co-editors of the magazine. Bauerlein and Jeffery, who had served as interim editors between Cohn and Rymer, were also chiefly responsible for some of the biggest successes of the magazine in the past several years, including a package on ExxonMobil's funding of climate change "deniers" (May/June 2005)[13] that was nominated for a National Magazine Award for Public Interest reporting; a package on the rapid decline in the health of the ocean (March/April 2006),[14] and the magazine's massive Iraq War Timeline interactive database.[15]

As the magazine’s first post-baby boomer editors, Bauerlein and Jeffery used a new investigative team of senior and young reporters to increase original reporting, web-based database tools, and blog commentary on MotherJones.com. The cover of their first issue (November 2006) asked: "Evolve or Die: Can humans get past denial and deal with global warming?"[16][17] In 2015, Bauerlein became CEO and Jeffery became sole editor in chief.[4]

David Corn, a political journalist and former Washington editor for The Nation, is bureau chief of the magazine's newly established D.C. bureau.[18] Other D.C. staff have included Washington Monthly contributing editor Stephanie Mencimer, former Village Voice correspondent James Ridgeway, and Adam Serwer from The American Prospect.

Awards

Mother Jones has been a finalist for 31 National Magazine Awards, winning seven times (including three times for General Excellence in 2001, 2008 and 2010).[19]

The Park Center for Independent Media named Mother Jones the winner of the fifth annual Izzy Award in April 2013, for "special achievement in independent media," for its 2012 reporting, including its analysis of gun violence in the United States, coverage of dark money funding of candidates, and release of a video of Mitt Romney stating that 47 percent of the people of the United States see themselves as victims and are dependent on the government.[20]

In August 2013, Mother Jones' co-editors Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery won the PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing.[21] Also in 2010, Mother Jones won the Online News Association Award for Online Topical Reporting,[22] and in 2011 won the Utne Reader Independent Press Award for General Excellence.[23]

MotherJones.com

In addition to stories from the print magazine, MotherJones.com offers original reported content seven days a week. During the 2008 presidential election campaign, MotherJones.com was the first to report John McCain's "100 years in Iraq" comment.[24] Also in 2008, MotherJones.com was the first outlet to report on Beckett Brown International, a security firm that spied on environmental groups for corporations.[25]

Winner of the 2005 and 2006 "People’s Choice" Webby Award for politics,[26] MotherJones.com has provided extensive coverage of both Gulf wars, presidential election campaigns, and other key events of the last decade. Mother Jones began posting its magazine content on the Internet in November 1993, the first general interest magazine in the country to do so.[27] In the March/April 1996 issue, the magazine published the first Mother Jones 400, a listing of the largest individual donors to federal political campaigns. The print magazine listed the 400 donors in order with thumbnail profiles and the amount they contributed. MotherJones.com (then known as the MoJo Wire) listed the donors in a searchable database.

In the 2006 election, MotherJones.com was the first to break stories on the use of robocalling,[28] a story that TPM Muckraker and The New York Times picked up. The Iraq War Timeline interactive database,[15] a continually updated interactive online project, was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2006.[29]

Mother Jones Radio

Launched on June 19, 2005, Mother Jones Radio was broadcast on Air America Radio on Sundays at 1:00 p.m. ET. Angie Coiro hosted the one-hour show, which featured interviews and commentaries inspired by stories from Mother Jones. Mother Jones Radio ended its production in early 2007.

References

  1. ↑ "eCirc for Consumer Magazines". Audit Bureau of Circulations. June 30, 2012. Retrieved September 27, 2012.
  2. ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-political-leanings-conservative-liberal-oreilly-msnbc-katie-couric-sean-hannity-2011-3?op=1
  3. ↑ http://observer.com/2007/10/imother-jonesi-lures-david-corn-from-ithe-nationi/
  4. 1 2 "Mother Jones names Monika Bauerlein Chief Executive Officer; Clara Jeffery, Editor-in-Chief". Mother Jones. Retrieved 2015-05-16.
  5. ↑ , Mother Mary Harris Jones.
  6. 1 2 Hochschild, Adam. "The History of Mother Jones". Retrieved October 19, 2012.
  7. ↑ http://www.motherjones.com/about
  8. ↑ Mother Jones Magazine. Mother Jones. November 1992. p. 3. ISSN 0362-8841. Retrieved November 23, 2015.
  9. ↑ Cockburn, Alexander (September 13, 1986). "Beat the Devil". The Nation (New York, New York: The Nation Company L.P.): 198. ISSN 0027-8378.
  10. ↑ Hochschild, Adam; Hazen, Don; Cockburn Alexander; et al. (1986-10-04). "Letters". The Nation (New York, New York: The Nation Company L.P.): 298, 323–324. ISSN 0027-8378.
  11. ↑ "Domestic Violence: A Special Report". Mother Jones. July 2005. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  12. ↑ "Contents". Mother Jones. December 2005. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  13. ↑ "As The World Burns". Mother Jones. May 2005. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  14. ↑ "The Last Days of the Ocean". Mother Jones. March 2006. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  15. 1 2 "Lie By Lie". Mother Jones. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  16. ↑ "Mother Jones November/December 2006 Issue". Mother Jones. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  17. ↑ "Editors' Note". Mother Jones. November–December 2006. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  18. ↑ "Mother Jones Lures David Corn From The Nation". The New York Observer. October 2, 2007. Retrieved November 4, 2008.
  19. ↑ "National Magazine Awards searchable database". Retrieved April 23, 2015.
  20. ↑ Maley, David (7 March 2013). "Mother Jones Wins Izzy Award for Independent Media". Ithaca College. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  21. ↑ https://www.pen.org/literature/2013-pennora-magid-award
  22. ↑ "2010 Awards". Online News Association. 2010. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  23. ↑ "Mother Jones Wins Izzy Award for Independent Media". Utne Reader. 2011. Retrieved 11 April 2013.
  24. ↑ "MotherJones Blog: McCain in NH: Would Be "Fine" To Keep Troops in Iraq for "A Hundred Years"". Mother Jones. January 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  25. ↑ "Exclusive: Cops and Former Secret Service Agents Ran Black Ops on Green Groups". Mother Jones. April 2008. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  26. ↑ 10th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners, 9th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners
  27. ↑ Richard R. Lingeman (2008). The Nation Guide to the Nation. Vintage Books. pp. 121–. ISBN 978-0-307-38728-8.
  28. ↑ "Tales of a Push Pollster". Mother Jones. October 2006. Retrieved 2008-11-04.
  29. ↑ "Mother Jones: MPA". Retrieved October 25, 2012.

External links

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