{{Short description|American editor and essayist (born 1967)}} {{Use American English|date=May 2026}} {{Use mdy dates|date=May 2026}} {{Infobox writer |name = Clara Jeffery |image = Clara Jeffery in 2009 (3454515170).jpg |caption = Jeffery in 2009 |birth_date = {{birth date and age|1967|8|25}} |birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. |occupation = Editor, essayist |genre = Non-fiction |education = Carleton College (BA)<br>Northwestern University (MA) }} '''Clara Jeffery''' (born August 25, 1967) is an American journalist. She has been editor-in-chief of ''Mother Jones'' since 2006.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/about/masthead|title=Mother Jones Masthead |accessdate=18 December 2016 |publisher=Motherjones.com}}</ref> When the magazine merged in 2024 with The Center for Investigative Reporting, Jeffery was named editor-in-chief of the combined organization.<ref name="mb">{{cite news |title=Merger of Mother Jones, The Center for Investigative Reporting Is Official |url=https://revealnews.org/press/merger-of-mother-jones-the-center-for-investigative-reporting-is-official/ |access-date=3 March 2024 |publisher=Reveal News |date=1 February 2024}}</ref> She is a recipient of a PEN award for magazine editing.
==Career== Jeffery was born in Baltimore, Maryland, and was raised in Arlington, Virginia, and attended the Sidwell Friends School<ref>{{cite news |last1=Werfelman |first1=Linda |title=Teenager Clara Jeffery says she 'used to think there... |url=https://www.upi.com/Archives/1983/11/22/Teenager-Clara-Jeffery-says-she-used-to-think-there/6673438325200/ |work=UPI |date=22 November 1983 |language=en}}</ref> (1985), before going to Carleton College (1989). She earned a master's degree from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University in 1993.
Between 1993 and 1995, Jeffery was a staff editor and writer at ''Washington City Paper''. She was a senior editor at ''Harper's Magazine'' (1995–2002), where she edited six articles nominated for a National Magazine Award, including essays by Barbara Ehrenreich that became ''Nickel and Dimed''. While at ''Harper's'', Jeffery also contributed occasional articles.<ref>{{cite web |work=Harper's Magazine |url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-94044076.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516141745/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-94044076.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 May 2011|title=Go West Old Man: Where the American Dream Goes Down the Drain |via=HighBeam Research |url-access=limited |date=1 November 2002}}</ref>
In 2002, she was hired as deputy editor of ''Mother Jones'', a position she held for four years before being promoted in August 2006 to co-editor-in-chief, along with Monika Bauerlein.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lowen |first=J. Trout |title=Power-Sharing Women Take Over Mother Jones |newspaper=Women's eNews |date=2 October 2006 |url=https://womensenews.org/2006/10/power-sharing-women-take-over-mother-jones/}}</ref> In May 2015, Jeffery became sole editor-in-chief and Bauerlein was named CEO.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Motherjones.com |accessdate=19 December 2016 |url=https://www.motherjones.com/about/press/mother-jones-names-monika-bauerlein-chief-executive-officer-clara-jeffery-editor-chief|title=Mother Jones Names Monika Bauerlein Chief Executive Officer and Clara Jeffery Editor-in-Chief |archive-date=14 May 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514173423/http://www.motherjones.com/about/press/mother-jones-names-monika-bauerlein-chief-executive-officer-clara-jeffery-editor-chief|url-status=dead}}</ref>
In their joint leadership at ''Mother Jones'', Jeffery and Bauerlein aimed to put greater emphasis on staff-generated, daily news and original reporting. The magazine received a National Magazine Award for General Excellence in 2008 and 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.motherjones.com/about/press/awards-accolades|title=Awards and Accolades|publisher=Motherjones.com|accessdate=5 October 2014}}</ref> In 2012, ''Mother Jones'' broke the story about Mitt Romney's "47 percent" remarks, which were controversial prior to Barack Obama winning reelection. In 2013, Jeffery and Bauerlein were co-recipients of the PEN award for magazine editing.<ref>{{cite web |title=PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing |publisher=PEN America |date=13 May 2025 |access-date=31 July 2025 |url=https://pen.org/literary-awards/pen-magid-award/}}</ref> In 2019, they received the I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence.<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Nieman Foundation for Journalism |date=8 April 2019 |title=Top Mother Jones executives Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery to receive I.F. Stone Medal for Journalistic Independence |url=https://nieman.harvard.edu/top-mother-jones-executives-monika-bauerlein-and-clara-jeffery-to-receive-i-f-stone-medal-for-journalistic-independence/}}</ref>
Besides her work for ''Harper's'' and ''Mother Jones'', Jeffery has also written articles and essays for ''Slate'',<ref>{{cite web |last=Jeffery |first=Clara |url=https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2003/02/can-dogs-be-racist.html|title=Can dogs be racist?|date=26 February 2003|work=Slate Magazine|accessdate=5 October 2014}}</ref> the ''Huffington Post'', ''San Francisco'' magazine,<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Attention Shoppers |url=http://www.sanfran.com/archives/view_story/4/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050117083623/http://sanfran.com/archives/view_story/4/ |magazine=San Francisco |archive-date=17 January 2005 |access-date=5 October 2014 |url-status=dead |last=Jeffery |first=Clara }}</ref> and the ''Chicago Reporter''.
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [https://web.archive.org/web/20040202230017/http://www.cjr.org/issues/2002/6/picks-cox.asp "Ten Young Editors To Watch", by Ana Marie Cox, ''Columbia Journalism Review''] * [https://www.motherjones.com/author/clara-jeffery/ ''Mother Jones'' essays by Jeffery]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Jeffery, Clara}} Category:1967 births Category:Living people Category:21st-century American women Category:American magazine editors Category:American women journalists Category:American women magazine editors Category:Carleton College alumni Category:Medill School of Journalism alumni Category:Mother Jones (magazine) people