Mother Jones Magazine

«Fearless Journalism» is Mother Jones’ tagline and it truly goes where mainstream media will not tread: Controversial, in-​depth and thought-​provoking.
It’s journalism that’s daring, maverick– topics that mainstream outlets won’t touch because they aren’t sensational or popular or might offend advertisers.
(Having worked in publishing for years– not hard-​hitting journalism mind you, merely travel/​entertainment/​lifestyle publications– content is *always heavily swayed by the bottom line. Sorry if I popped your cherry).
But Mother Jones doesn’t operate in that bandwidth and this San Francisco-​based magazine with national and international influence is a must-​read.
It doesn’t bow to advertising pressures, popular opinion or what’s in vogue. If I had to pick an adjective to describe its writing, I’d say «contrarian» and I say that with deep admiration.
Long before I fumbled then stumbled backwards into a career in publishing, I had an obsession with print that started at a young age. I madly devoured every magazine I could get my hands on. I spent every dollar on any and every magazine whose cover lines pinged my imagination.
My list wasn’t precocious, it was Mad Magazine, TV Guide, Harper’s Bazaar, Seventeen, Mademoiselle, an occasional perusal of Fortune and an obsession with The New Yorker.
(I dreamt of escaping my boring hometown of Buffalo and living in New York City and read its theater/​gallery/​events/​movie listings like they were a treasure map).
But now with time being a precious commodity, I’ve regretfully let go of subscriptions I no longer have time to read, like watching leaves float away on a fast-​moving stream. No more Rolling Stone, Food & Wine, More, People, Forbes, New York and on and on.
Yet, there are a few that’ve made the cut: The New Yorker, Cooks Illustrated, Vanity Fair (I’m a charter subscriber) and Mother Jones Magazine.
I’ll renew my subscription and give one — or three — as Christmas gifts.
Buy a newsstand copy, if only to support Mother Jones’ fine journalism and an excellent San Francisco institution, and consider a subscription.
Even if your politics are right-​leaning, I promise you’ll find information that’ll be thought-​provoking and interesting.
Mother Jones is a phenomenal magazine.

Fearless journalism, just as they advertise!
And the writers don’t wait for news to happen. They decide topics that society should be discussing, like climate change, or news we should still be discussing, like the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion, and prepare a package. There’s nothing better!

Named for socialist agitator Mary Harris Jones, Mother Jones magazine has been muckraking on behalf of working and poor people since 1976, covering labor strife, turmoil in Central America, Corporate America’s funding of anti-​environmentalist movements, AIDS, the tobacco industry, and the seedy underbelly of the American Right earlier and better than the mainstream media ever could.
Some highlights from the September-​October 2011 issue, a copy of which I hold in my hands as I write this, include…
*An incisive look at conservative lunatic Michele Bachmann.
*An investigative report on the FBI’s intrusion of American Muslim communities.
*A story on a clandestine federal program designed to jail and interrogate Americans abroad.
This piece from last month’s issue is particularly relevant this Labor Day weekend…
Not every Unilocaler has that cushy job, y’know?
On the same track, champion of the underprivileged, Barb Ehrenreich, recently contributed this piece on the criminalization of poverty…
MJ reports on happenings that the insulated may not want to know about. Their commentators and contributors, which have included Molly Ivins, Michael Moore, and Ralph Nader, have opined on things and in ways that make the insulated uneasy. For these reasons alone, MJ is a publication that is essential to informing and awakening the public that a deeply just and compassionate America can be realized.
Read the free articles online and print them out or forward them. Send them donations. Subscribe to the physical magazine and «forget» to take them home when reading the latest editions on the bus or at the dentist’s office. If nothing else, MJ is always a terrific, engrossing read and deserves to be distributed more widely that Sports Illustrated or People. May MJ’s circulation of 200,000 be increased twentyfold.
Mary Harris Jones was/​is the patron saint of righteous subversion. Keep her spirit alive.

Mother Jones will open the eyes of the most liberal reader. San Francisco at it’s best!

I think they’ve increased in coverage and depth recently. I find myself looking here for interesting takes on stories that I want to get more insight on.

Mother Jones is one of those magazines that I consider myself a subscriber of even if I’m not currently a subscriber. I say this because when I don’t renew my subscription it’s not because I dislike the magazine it’s because I get so many freaking renewal notices from them, usually for gift subscriptions I’ve given other people, that I just don’t pay attention anymore. Then I actually do resubscribe eventually. But it’s bimonthly, so it’s often hard to figure out whether you’re a current subscriber.
I love this magazine. There have been so many articles that I’ve shown to other people or photocopied or intended to show to other people. It really is investigative journalism near its best. I also like the fact that despite their political slant they’re not afraid to take on all players, and for the most part they do so pretty evenhandedly and well.
I have two gripes with Mother Jones. First, the whole subscription-​renewal thing. Just send me one, and I’ll renew. Stop trying to get me to renew gift subscriptions.
The second gripe is the hit piece on the late Rachel Corrie they ran a few years back. I have no problem with criticism of people and their politics. And yes, I may be sensitive about Rachel Corrie because she freaking died for what she believed in, but the article was pure crap and was lifted from many unattributed sources. It was slimy and plagiaristic and far below Mother Jones’s journalistic standards.
But you should subscribe to the magazine. If you become a close friend, I might even give you a gift subscription for Christmas.

With all of our news sources essentially providing soundbites, Mother Jones brings thought-​provoking stories on aspects of events /​situations much of mainstream media is forgetting. MoJo is not afraid to challenge other journalists or reporting accuracy and is not afraid to question both sides of government. The magazine is less about personal agenda and more on public awareness, ethics and speaking out on what should not be left as merely acceptance of a situation.

I can always rely on MoJo for in-​depth reporting and quality writing on topics mostly underreported by the mainstream press. Named for named for socialist labor organizer Mary Harris «Mother» Jones, the publication has a long tradition as a rabble-​rousing magazine.
I wear my «HELLRAISER» t-​shirt with great pride.