Jesus, What a Cover!

Time and Newsweek compete over their go-to religious cover boy.

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As reported by publishing trade mag Folio, magazines that feature Jesus on their covers see their issue sales jump by as much as 45 percent. (Putting the Bible front and center can boost sales as much as 51 percent.) In the past couple of years, magazines such as Wired and Popular Mechanics have tried to cash in on this miracle of marketing, but the most persistent devotees are Time and Newsweek, which have spent the last decade competing over who can squeeze Jesus on the front most often.

1996
Apr 8 Time cover

April 8
Time fires the opening salvo of the Jesus wars during Holy Week.

Apr 8 Newsweek cover

April 8
Newsweek shoots back with “Rethinking the Resurrection.”

1999
Mar 29 Newsweek cover

March 29
More than six months early, Newsweek celebrates “2000 Years of Jesus.”

Dec 6 Time cover

December 6
Time reminisces about “Jesus at 2000.”

2004
Dec 13 Newsweek cover

December 13
Newsweek looks into “The Birth of Jesus.”

Dec 13 Time cover

December 13
Time reveals “Secrets of the Nativity.”

2005
Mar 21 Time cover

March 21
Time goes for broke with “Hail, Mary.”

March 28 Newsweek cover

March 28
Newsweek intercepts with the backstory of “How Jesus Became Christ.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

If you can, please support the reporting you get from Mother Jones—that exists to make a difference, not a profit—with a donation of any amount today. We need more donations than normal to come in from this specific blurb to help close our funding gap before it gets any bigger.

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