Mother Jones (magazine)

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Mother Jones is a nonprofit American magazine that focuses on politics, the environment, human rights, health, and culture. It publishes news, analysis, and in-depth investigations. Clara Jeffery is the editor-in-chief, and Monika Bauerlein has been the CEO since 2015. The magazine’s online site, MoJo.com, adds original reporting seven days a week.

The magazine started in 1975 as a project of the Foundation for National Progress, a nonprofit group. It published its first issue in February 1976 and is named after Mary Harris Jones, known as Mother Jones, a famous labor organizer. In its early years, an editorial board ran the magazine and members took turns serving as managing editor for one year.

In 2007, Mother Jones opened a Washington, D.C. bureau, with David Corn as the bureau chief. Over the years, the staff earned several major awards for their investigative work, including pieces on ExxonMobil’s funding of climate change denial, the health of the oceans, and an Iraq War timeline. The magazine has won multiple National Magazine Awards, the Izzy Award for independent media, and other honors. In 2015, Clara Jeffery became the sole editor-in-chief and Bauerlein became the chief executive officer.

In 2023, Mother Jones announced a merger with The Center for Investigative Reporting, the oldest investigative nonprofit news organization in the United States. The merger became official on February 1, 2024. The magazine has also attracted donations from Laurene Powell Jobs’s Emerson Collective.

Mother Jones has sometimes been controversial. It has faced criticism over editorial choices, internship pay practices, and a few high-profile staff matters, including a 2017 internal review into allegations against columnist David Corn, which found no evidence of misconduct.

Today, Mother Jones continues to publish in print every two months and maintain a strong online presence with ongoing investigative reporting on politics, the environment, health, and human rights.