Mother Jones (magazine)

{{short description|American progressive magazine}} {{other|Mother Jones (disambiguation)}}{{Use American English|date=February 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date = February 2025}} {{Infobox magazine | title = Mother Jones | logo = Mother Jones Logo 2019.svg | image_file = Mayjune cover.JPG | image_caption = May/June 2010 cover | image_alt = | editor = Clara Jeffery | editor_title = Editor-in-Chief | frequency = Bi-monthly | total_circulation = | founder = | publisher = Foundation for National Progress (1975–2024)<br>The Center for Investigative Reporting (2024–present) | circulation_year = | category = Politics  | firstdate = {{start date and age|1976|2}} | country = United States | based = San Francisco, California, U.S. | language = English | website = {{URL|https://www.motherjones.com/}} | issn = 0362-8841 | oclc = 2379341 }}

'''''Mother Jones''''' (abbreviated '''''MoJo''''') is a nonprofit American progressive<ref name=Observer>{{cite web |last1=Roth |first1=Zachary |date=3 October 2007 |title=Mother Jones Lures David Corn From The Nation |url=https://observer.com/2007/10/imother-jonesi-lures-david-corn-from-ithe-nationi/ |access-date=27 October 2018 |website=Observer}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Dagnes |first=Alison |chapter=Negative Objectives: The Right-Wing Media Circle and Everyone else |title=Super Mad at Everything All the Time |date=2019 |work=Super Mad at Everything All the Time: Political Media and Our National Anger |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=9783030061319 |editor-last=Dagnes |editor-first=Alison |pages=178 |language=en |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-06131-9_5 |s2cid=156032120}}</ref> magazine that focuses on news, commentary, and investigative journalism on topics including politics, environment, human rights, health, healthcare and culture. Clara Jeffery serves as editor-in-chief of the magazine. Monika Bauerlein has been the CEO since 2015.<ref name=Observer/><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/twitter-political-leanings-conservative-liberal-oreilly-msnbc-katie-couric-sean-hannity-2011-3?op=1|title=Here Are The 5 Most Liberal And Conservative Media Twitter Feeds|website=Business Insider|access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref><ref name="pressrelease">{{Cite web| title = Mother Jones names Monika Bauerlein Chief Executive Officer; Clara Jeffery, Editor-in-Chief| work = Mother Jones| access-date = 2015-05-16| url = https://www.motherjones.com/about/press/mother-jones-names-monika-bauerlein-chief-executive-officer-clara-jeffery-editor-chief| 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| archive-date = 2015-05-14| url-status = dead}}</ref>

In 2024, ''Mother Jones'' merged with The Center for Investigative Reporting.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Merger of Mother Jones, The Center for Investigative Reporting Is Official |url=https://www.motherjones.com/press-releases/merger-of-mother-jones-the-center-for-investigative-reporting-is-official/ |access-date=2026-05-23 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What Is Mother Jones? |url=https://www.motherjones.com/about/ |access-date=2026-05-23 |website=Mother Jones |language=en-US}}</ref> The center produces ''Mother Jones'' and its digital, social, and video channels, as well as the radio show and podcast ''Reveal'' and the podcast ''More to the Story''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Center for Investigative Reporting |url=https://www.cir.org/ |access-date=2026-05-23 |website=The Center for Investigative Reporting}}</ref>

The magazine is named after Mary Harris Jones, known as Mother Jones, an Irish-American trade union activist, socialist advocate, and ardent opponent of child labor.<ref name="Women in History">{{cite web |url=http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/jone-mar.htm |title="Mother" Mary Harris Jones biography |access-date=2011-08-06 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110812031336/http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/jone-mar.htm |archive-date=2011-08-12 }}</ref>

==History== For the first five years after its inception in 1976,<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|title=Mother Jones Magazine|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O-cDAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT3|access-date=November 23, 2015|date=November 1992|journal=Mother Jones|page=3|issn=0362-8841|last1 = Jones|first1 = Mother}}</ref> ''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. Louise Kollenbaum served as the magazine's art director for its first dozen years, using art and photography to give it a very different look from traditional progressive American publications. 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".<ref name="about">{{cite web|last=Hochschild|first=Adam|title=The History of Mother Jones|url=https://www.motherjones.com/about/what-mother-jones/our-history|access-date=October 19, 2012}}</ref>

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),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2005/07/haven.htm |title=Domestic Violence: A Special Report|work=Mother Jones |date=July 2005|access-date=November 4, 2008}}</ref> and the role of religion in politics (December 2005).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/toc/2005/12/index.html |title=Contents |work=Mother Jones|date=December 2005|access-date=November 4, 2008}}</ref>

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 during this time, including a package on ExxonMobil's funding of climate-change "deniers" (May/June 2005)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2005/05/world_burns.html |title=As The World Burns |work=Mother Jones |date=May 2005 |access-date=November 4, 2008}}</ref> 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),<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2006/03/oceans_index.html |title=The Last Days of the Ocean |work=Mother Jones |date=March 2006 |access-date=November 4, 2008}}</ref> and the magazine's massive Iraq War Timeline interactive database.<ref name="Lie By Lie">{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/bush_war_timeline/ |title=Lie By Lie |work=Mother Jones |access-date=November 4, 2008}}</ref>

The cover of ''Mother Jones''<nowiki/>' first issue under the leadership of Bauerlein and Jeffery (from November 2006) asked: "Evolve or Die: Can humans get past denial and deal with global warming?"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/toc/2006/11/index.html |title=Mother Jones November/December 2006 Issue |work=Mother Jones |access-date=November 4, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/commentary/ednote/2006/11/editors_note.html |title=Editors' Note |work=Mother Jones |date=November–December 2006 |access-date=November 4, 2008}}</ref> In 2015, Bauerlein became CEO, and Jeffery became sole editor in chief.<ref name="pressrelease"/>

David Corn, former Washington editor for ''The Nation'', became bureau chief of the magazine's newly established D.C. bureau in 2007.<ref name="observer.com">{{cite news|url=http://www.observer.com/2007/mother-jones-lures-david-corn-nation|title=Mother Jones Lures David Corn From The Nation|work=The New York Observer|date=October 2, 2007|access-date=November 4, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081006185727/http://www.observer.com/2007/mother-jones-lures-david-corn-nation|archive-date=October 6, 2008}}</ref> 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''.

Laurene Powell Jobs has donated to ''Mother Jones'' by way of her LLC, Emerson Collective.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Sarah McBride |last2=Gerry Smith |title=Billionaire Laurene Powell Jobs Turned Her LLC Into a VC Machine |url= https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-25/billionaire-laurene-powell-jobs-turned-her-llc-into-a-vc-machine |access-date=6 September 2020 |work=Bloomberg |date=25 April 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190429203707/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-25/billionaire-laurene-powell-jobs-turned-her-llc-into-a-vc-machine |archive-date=29 April 2019 |quote=Powell Jobs has said she finds the demise of local news particularly troubling. That concern prompted Emerson to not just take stakes in media organizations but to donate to nonprofits like the Marshall Project, Mother Jones}}</ref>

In December 2023, ''Mother Jones'' announced that it would be combining with The Center for Investigative Reporting.<ref name="2024NYT">{{cite news |last1=Mullin |first1=Benjamin |title=Center for Public Integrity Weighs Merger or Shutdown Amid Dire Financial Straits |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/28/business/media/center-for-public-integrity-financial-problems.html |access-date=March 1, 2024 |work=New York Times |date=February 28, 2024}}</ref> The merger took effect on February 1 2024.<ref name="Merger">{{cite web |title=Merger of Mother Jones, The Center for Investigative Reporting Is Official |url=https://www.motherjones.com/press-releases/merger-of-mother-jones-the-center-for-investigative-reporting-is-official/ |website=Mother Jones |access-date=23 May 2024}}</ref>

==Awards== ''Mother Jones'' has been a finalist for 52 National Magazine Awards, winning 12 times (including four times for General Excellence in 2001, 2008, 2010, and 2025).<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.magazine.org/asme/national-magazine-awards/winners-finalists | title=National Magazine Awards searchable database | access-date=April 23, 2015 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010181823/http://magazine.org/asme/national-magazine-awards/winners-finalists | archive-date=October 10, 2018 | url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGAZINE EDITORS ANNOUNCES NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS 2025 WINNERS |url=https://asme.memberclicks.net/american-society-of-magazine-editors-announces-national-magazine-awards-2025-winners |access-date=2026-05-28 |website=asme.memberclicks.net}}</ref>

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.<ref name=izzy>{{Cite web |url=http://www.ithaca.edu/news/releases/mother-jones-wins-izzy-award-for-independent-media-34423/ |last=Maley |first=David |date=7 March 2013 |access-date=11 April 2013 |title=Mother Jones Wins Izzy Award for Independent Media |work=Ithaca College}}</ref>

In August 2013, ''Mother Jones''{{'}} co-editors Monika Bauerlein and Clara Jeffery won the PEN/Nora Magid Award for Magazine Editing.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.pen.org/literature/2013-pennora-magid-award |title=2013 PEN/Nora Magid Award |website=PEN America |date=25 July 2013 |access-date=2016-09-10}}</ref> Also in 2010, ''Mother Jones'' won the Online News Association Award for Online Topical Reporting,<ref name=ona>{{Cite web |url=http://journalists.org/awards/past-winners-2010/ |title=2010 Awards |work=Online News Association |year=2010 |access-date=11 April 2013}}</ref> and in 2011 won the ''Utne Reader'' Independent Press Award for General Excellence.<ref name=utne>{{Cite web |url=http://www.utne.com/Utne-Independent-Press-Award-Winners-2011.aspx |year=2011 |access-date=11 April 2013 |title=Mother Jones Wins Izzy Award for Independent Media |work=Utne Reader}}</ref>

In 2017, ''Mother Jones'' won the Magazine of the Year award from the American Society of Magazine Editors.<ref>{{Cite news |title=Mother Jones wins the highest honor in the magazine industry |url=https://www.motherjones.com/media/2017/02/mother-jones-wins-2017-magazine-year-award |access-date=2017-02-09 |newspaper=Mother Jones |language=en}}</ref>

In 2025, ''Mother Jones'' won won two National Magazine Awards, including awards for "General Excellence."<ref>{{Cite web |title=AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGAZINE EDITORS ANNOUNCES NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS 2025 WINNERS |url=https://asme.memberclicks.net/american-society-of-magazine-editors-announces-national-magazine-awards-2025-winners |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=asme.memberclicks.net}}</ref> The magazine was recognized for its coverage in the "Literature, Science and Politics" category, as well as the podcasting category, for its "[https://revealnews.org/article/40-acres-and-a-lie/ 40 Acres and A Lie]" series produced in collaboration with the Center for Public Integrity and ''Reveal''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=AMERICAN SOCIETY OF MAGAZINE EDITORS ANNOUNCES NATIONAL MAGAZINE AWARDS 2025 WINNERS |url=https://asme.memberclicks.net/american-society-of-magazine-editors-announces-national-magazine-awards-2025-winners |access-date=2025-10-22 |website=asme.memberclicks.net}}</ref> The "[https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2024/06/40-acres-and-a-lie/ 40 Acres and A Lie]" investigation also was selected as a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2025 in the explanatory reporting category<ref>{{Cite web |title=Alexia Campbell, April Simpson and Pratheek Rebala of the Center for Public Integrity; Nadia Hamdan of Reveal; and Roy Hurst, contributor, Mother Jones {{!}} The Pulitzer Prizes |url=https://www.pulitzer.org/node/alexia-campbell-april-simpson-and-pratheek-rebala-center-public-integrity-nadia-hamdan-reveal |access-date=2026-05-28 |website=www.pulitzer.org |language=en}}</ref>.

==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 journalist David Corn was the first to report John McCain's statement that it "would be fine with [him]" if the United States military were to stay in Iraq for "maybe a hundred years"—that what should be assessed is not their simple presence but how many casualties are being suffered. McCain said the presence of U.S. forces in South Korea, Japan, Europe, Bosnia and other countries is a "generally accepted policy of America's multilateralism".<ref name=Corn2008>{{cite web|author=David Corn|url=https://www.motherjones.com/mojoblog/archives/2008/01/6735_mccain_in_nh_wo.html |title=MotherJones Blog: McCain in NH: Would Be "Fine" To Keep Troops in Iraq for "A Hundred Years" |work=Mother Jones |date=January 2008 |access-date=5 March 2018}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.motherjones.com/news/feature/2008/04/firm-spied-on-environmental-groups.html |title=Exclusive: Cops and Former Secret Service Agents Ran Black Ops on Green Groups |work=Mother Jones |date=April 2008 |access-date=2008-11-04}}</ref>

Winner of the 2005 and 2006 "People's Choice" Webby Award for politics,<ref>[http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=10 10th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060412184429/http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=10 |date=April 12, 2006 }}, [http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=9 9th Annual Webby Awards Nominees & Winners] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100124000000/http://www.webbyawards.com/webbys/current.php?season=9 |date=January 24, 2010 }}</ref> 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 on November 24, 1993, the first general interest magazine in the country to do so.<ref name="Lingeman2008">{{cite book|author=Richard R. Lingeman|title=The Nation Guide to the Nation|url=https://archive.org/details/nationguideton00ling|url-access=registration|year=2008|publisher=Vintage Books|isbn=978-0-307-38728-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/nationguideton00ling/page/121 121]–}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What's New, November 1993 |url=https://www.desy.de/web/mosaic/old-whats-new/whats-new-1193.html |access-date=2023-11-24 |website=www.desy.de}}</ref> 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,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://motherjones.com/politics/2006/10/tales-push-pollster |title=Tales of a Push Pollster |work=Mother Jones |date=October 2006 |access-date=2008-11-04}}</ref> a story that ''TPM Muckraker'' and ''The New York Times'' picked up. The Iraq War Timeline interactive database,<ref name="Lie By Lie"/> a continually updated interactive online project, was nominated for a National Magazine Award in 2006.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.magazine.org/mother-jones-9 | title=Mother Jones: MPA | access-date=October 25, 2012}}</ref>

==Critiques== {{Criticism section|date=March 2024}} Throughout its circulation, ''Mother Jones'' magazine has been the subject of criticism regarding the editorial position of the staff,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2017/04/the-woke-fence---mother-jones-endorses-a-neolibera.html|title=The Woke Fence - Mother Jones Endorses a Neoliberal Vision of Trump's Border Wall|website=pastemagazine.com|date=24 April 2017|language=en|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref> exploitation of interns,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Abad-Santos |first1=Alexander |title=Mother Jones Reportedly Told Its Interns to Go on Food Stamps Because It Pays So Little |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/12/mother-jones-told-its-interns-go-food-stamps-because-it-didnt-pay-them-enough/355654/ |website=The Atlantic |access-date=6 August 2019 |date=2 December 2013}}</ref> misinterpreting data about homeless people,<ref name=":1" /> and promotion of values that are perceived to be inconsistent with those of the magazine's namesake, Mother Jones.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Scully|first=Michael Andrew|date=Fall 1978|title=Would Mother Jones Buy "Mother Jones"?|url=https://www.nationalaffairs.com/storage/app/uploads/public/58e/1a5/0c8/58e1a50c8b8a7260434867.pdf|journal=The Public Interest Quarterly|pages=100–108}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.salon.com/2016/09/16/what-would-mother-jones-do-probably-not-bash-idealistic-young-leftists/|title=What would Mother Jones do? Probably not bash idealistic young leftists|date=2016-09-16|website=Salon|language=en|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Mother Jones' Legacy Is Haunting Mother Jones as the Magazine Embraces Neoliberalism |url=https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2016/12/the-legacy-of-mother-jones-is-haunting-mother-jone.html |website=pastemagazine.com |date=21 December 2016 |access-date=8 August 2019 |language=en}}</ref>

Michael Moore, who had owned and published the Flint, Michigan-based ''Michigan Voice'' for ten years, followed English and edited ''Mother Jones'' for several months, until he was fired for disputed reasons. Matt Labash of ''The Weekly Standard'' reported this was for refusing to print an article that was critical of the Sandinista human rights record in Nicaragua<ref name="Schultz">{{cite book |last=Schultz |first=Emily |url=https://archive.org/details/michaelmoore00emil |title=Michael Moore: a biography |publisher=ECW Press |year=2005 |isbn=1-55022-699-1 |pages=47–54 |url-access=registration}}</ref>—a view supported by ''The Nation'' columnist Alexander Cockburn, but denied by Hochschild and others at the magazine.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Cockburn |first=Alexander |author-link=Alexander Cockburn |date=September 13, 1986 |title=Beat the Devil |journal=The Nation |location=New York, New York |publisher=The Nation Company L.P. |page=198 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hochschild |first=Adam |author-link=Adam Hochschild |author2=Hazen, Don |author3=Cockburn Alexander |display-authors=etal |date=1986-10-04 |title=Letters |journal=The Nation |location=New York, New York |publisher=The Nation Company L.P. |pages=298, 323–324 |issn=0027-8378}}</ref> Moore believes that he was fired because of his defiant reaction to the publisher's refusal to allow him to cover a story on the GM plant closings in Flint.<ref>Matt Labash. [https://web.archive.org/web/20170729061619/http://www.weeklystandard.com/michael-moore-one-trick-phony/article/5507 Michael Moore, One-Trick Phony]. ''The Weekly Standard''. June 8, 1998.</ref> Moore also felt that he did not have a chance to shape the magazine, and that many of the articles that were printed during his time as editor were articles that had already been commissioned by Deirdre English. After being fired in 1986, Moore sued ''Mother Jones'' for $2 million for wrongful termination,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jones |first=Alex S. |date=1986-09-27 |title=Radical Magazine Removes Editor, Setting Off A Widening Political Debate |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/27/us/radical-magazine-removes-editor-setting-off-a-widening-political-debate.html |access-date=2017-07-13 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> but settled with the magazine's insurance company for $58,000<ref>{{Cite book |last=DiMare |first=Philip C. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0qUJ-JuSPdQC&pg=PA750 |title=Movies in American History: An Encyclopedia [3 volumes]: An Encyclopedia |date=2011-06-17 |publisher=ABC-CLIO |isbn=9781598842975 |language=en}}</ref>—$8000 more than the initial offering.

In December 2013, ''Mother Jones'' was criticized for its labor practices regarding the employment of interns, as part of the Ben Bagdikian Fellowship Program. The program allowed college students to enroll as "fellows" who would receive a monthly stipend of $1,000 while working for the magazine in San Francisco. Writer Charles Davis of ''Vice'' criticized this practice as exploitative noting that "a fellow [working] at ''Mother Jones'' earns less than $6 an hour in a state, California, that just decided to raise the minimum wage to $10." Following the publication of the article, ''Mother Jones'' announced that it would reform its budget to provide fellows with equivalent to California's minimum wage. According to Davis, a former intern alleged that they were advised by the company's human resources department to register for food stamps.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Davis |first1=Charles |title=The Exploited Laborers of the Liberal Media |url=https://www.vice.com/en/article/the-exploited-laborers-of-the-liberal-media/ |website=Vice.com |publisher=Vice |access-date=6 August 2019 |date=2 December 2013}}</ref>

The magazine was subject of controversy regarding an October 2016 article about white supremacist figure Richard B. Spencer titled, "Meet the Dapper White Nationalist Riding the Trump Wave", which was interpreted as presenting Spencer in a positive light in contrast to his promotion of violent, racialist views.<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/minutes/138894/please-dont-make-nazis-new-fashion-darlings-dc|title=Please don't make Nazis the new fashion darlings of D.C.|date=2016-11-21|magazine=The New Republic|language=en-us|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref> In response to the controversy, ''Mother Jones'' deleted a tweet promoting the article, in addition to removing the word "dapper" from the title of the article.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-alt-right-analysis-20161121-story.html|title=The 'alt-right' splinters as supporters and critics agree it was white supremacy all along|last=Pearce|first=Matt|date=2016-11-29|newspaper=LA Times|access-date=2019-08-08|quote=Readers denounced news outlets, including the Los Angeles Times, for not portraying Spencer and his supporters in a harsher light. The left-wing investigative magazine Mother Jones, which ran a deep profile of Spencer in October, was criticized for titling its piece, "Meet the Dapper White Nationalist Who Wins Even if Trump Loses." The word "dapper" was soon removed from the headline.}}</ref> The 2017 video game ''Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus'' featured a newspaper article entitled "Meet The Dapper Young KKK Leader With A Message Of Hope". Video game website ''Kotaku'' said the addition was "clearly a shot at ''Mother Jones'' and any other media outlet who decides to start getting cutesy about white supremacy".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://kotaku.com/wolfenstein-2-collectible-mocks-progressive-magazine-ov-1819952709|title=Wolfenstein 2 Collectible Mocks Progressive Magazine Over Its Coverage Of White Nationalists|last=Gach|first=Ethan|date=October 30, 2017|work=Kotaku|access-date=April 15, 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20171030031753/https://www.kotaku.com.au/2017/10/wolfenstein-2-collectible-mocks-progressive-magazine-over-its-coverage-of-white-nationalists/|archive-date=October 30, 2017|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref> In 2022, journalist and media critic Jesse Singal defended the story as a valuable example of investigative journalism and characterized its critics as misinformed, writing that "it's almost impossible to imagine any reasonable reader confusing it for a puff piece." Singal cited the social media response to the article as an example of what he saw as an increasing problem of slander against journalists, concluding that "the Twitter gauntlet consistently destroys good journalism."<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/it-isnt-journalisms-job-to-hand-hold|title=It Isn't Journalism's Job To Hand Hold People To The Correct Moral Conclusions|last=Singal|first=Jesse|date=September 30, 2022|work=Singal-Minded|access-date=October 27, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230320154307/https://jessesingal.substack.com/p/it-isnt-journalisms-job-to-hand-hold/|archive-date=March 20, 2023|url-status=live|language=en-US|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

In August 2017, journalist and ''Mother Jones'' contributor Glenn Greenwald criticized an article published by the magazine titled "Are People Disgusted By the Homeless?" by Kevin Drum, which Greenwald asserts uses dehumanizing stereotypes of homeless people.<ref name=":1">{{cite web |last1=Greenwald |first1=Glenn |author-link=Glenn Greenwald |title=Scholars Say Mother Jones Distorted Their Research for Anti-Homeless Article |url=https://theintercept.com/2017/08/01/scholars-say-mother-jones-distorted-their-research-for-anti-homeless-article/ |website=The Intercept |access-date=7 August 2019 |date=1 August 2017}}</ref> Kevin Drum would again be a subject of controversy in July 2019, when Naomi Lachance of Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting criticized Drum's handling of the Wayfair Walkout in a blog post titled "I Don't Understand the Wayfair Walkout".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Drum |first1=Kevin |title=Are people disgusted by the homeless? |url=https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2017/07/are-people-disgusted-by-the-homeless/ |website=Motherjones.com |publisher=Mother Jones |access-date=7 August 2019 |date=2000}}</ref> The Wayfair Walkout was a planned protest action taken by workers and employees of the furniture company to express their opposition to the companies contracting with ICE and other government agencies involved in detainment of suspected undocumented immigrants.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Spellings |first1=Sarah |title=What Happens After the Wayfair Walkout |url=https://www.thecut.com/2019/06/what-happened-at-the-wayfair-employee-walkout.html |website=The Cut |access-date=7 August 2019 |language=en |date=27 June 2019}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/17/homelessness-kevin-drum-mother-jones-disgust|title=Journalist under fire for calling it 'crazy' not to be disgusted by homeless people|last=Gee|first=Alastair|date=2017-07-18|work=The Guardian|access-date=2019-08-08|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In response to news of the walkout, Drum wrote, "But isn't our whole complaint that these kids are being treated badly? Shouldn't we want companies to sell the government toothpaste and soap and beds and so forth? What am I missing here?"<ref>{{cite web |last1=Drum |first1=Kevin |title=I don't understand the Wayfair walkout |url=https://www.motherjones.com/kevin-drum/2019/06/i-dont-understand-the-wayfair-walkout/ |website=Mother Jones |access-date=7 August 2019}}</ref> In response to these comments, Lachance wrote "In a cruel and violent world, full of exponentially increasing climate change, natural disasters, food shortages and wars, people cross borders in search of a place where they have a sliver of a chance to survive. That determination for life should be celebrated, not criminalized. Drum has an attitude toward immigrants that is xenophobic and deeply embarrassing for ''Mother Jones''."<ref>{{cite web |last1=Lachance |first1=Naomi |title=Mother Jones Is Failing Its Namesake |url=https://fair.org/home/mother-jones-is-failing-its-namesake/ |website=fair.org |publisher=FAIR |access-date=7 August 2019 |date=23 July 2019}}</ref>

In late 2017, journalist and columnist David Corn was accused of workplace sexual harassment by former staffers who alleged the columnist of engaging "...in inappropriate workplace behavior, including unwanted touching and rape jokes".<ref name=":2">{{Cite web|url=https://www.vox.com/a/sexual-harassment-assault-allegations-list/david-corn|title=David Corn, Mother Jones DC Bureau Chief, sexual misconduct allegations|last=North|first=Anna|date=2017-12-22|website=Vox.com|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref> These allegations were published in numerous newspapers and magazines, including ''The Daily Beast''<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thedailybeast.com/men-need-to-change-and-women-need-to-change-with-them|title=Men Need to Change, and Women Need to Change With Them|last=Crocker|first=Lizzie|date=2017-11-04|access-date=2019-08-08|language=en}}</ref> and ''Politico''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://politi.co/2gWntkx|title=David Corn investigated for inappropriate workplace behavior|last=Calderone|first=Michael|website=POLITICO|date=2 November 2017 |language=en|access-date=2019-08-08}}</ref> ''Mother Jones'' conducted an internal investigation of the accusations, concluding that there was no evidence of misconduct.<ref name=":2" />

==See also== * Institute for Nonprofit News (member)

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

==External links== {{Commons category}} * {{official website|https://www.motherjones.com}} * {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/*/http://mojones.com/|title=Mother Jones (mojones.com)}} – Archives dating back to 1996 * {{ProPublicaNonprofitExplorer|942282759|Foundation for National Progress}} {{Progressivism US footer}}

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