Mother Jones’ Commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

Our country is beginning to reckon with its history of discrimination against marginalized communities. We believe that confronting systemic inequalities is important not only to our news coverage but to our profession at large as well as our organizational culture. We recognize this is a long-term journey, and that acknowledging and learning from failure is part of the process. We recognize that our success depends on creating a home for exceptional professionals that reflects the diversity of our society, respects and rewards the perspectives and contributions of each staff member, and redresses past inequities.

Mother Jones aims to create an organization where:

  • Everyone feels safe to bring their best selves;
  • Everyone feels they belong; and
  • Everyone knows success is based on contributing in meaningful ways.

Mother Jones is working to make those goals a reality by:

  • Prioritizing inclusion in recruiting and hiring;
  • Training staff on Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) principles;
  • Training supervisors in DEIB-informed management;
  • Building relationships with Historically Black Colleges and Universities and Hispanic-Serving Institutions; and
  • Implementing DEIB benchmarks for the entire organization.

Below are more details about our efforts to create a diverse, equitable and inclusive workplace.

 

 

Initiatives

Recruiting: Mother Jones’ recruiting process ensures a diverse group of job applicants and staff interviewers. Of candidates who receive first-round phone interviews, 30 percent must be people of color and 30 percent must be women. Our interview panels include at least one staff member who identifies as female and one who identifies as a person of color. Both arrangements are monitored by Mother Jones’ Diversity Committee.

Pay Equity: In an effort to be transparent with job candidates, most postings include a minimum salary. In addition, Mother Jones hired a third party company, Trusiac, in 2021 to conduct a pay audit, and is committed to continuously monitoring pay equity to prevent or redress any inequities.

DEIB Training: To ensure the principles of DEI are implemented in the workplace, all managers are required to participate in DEI seminars conducted by The Management Center, a non-profit leadership training organization as well as in-house training.

Fellowships: Mother Jonesfellowship program is dedicated to providing best-in-class training to emerging journalists, with a focus on those from historically marginalized backgrounds. In our 2023 cohort of fellows, almost half identify as people of color and more than two-thirds are women. Our fellows have gone on to work in all of the nation’s top newsrooms, and many have found employment at Mother Jones.

Outreach: Mother Jones recognizes the next generation of journalists are university students, and has prioritized outreach and training to BIPOC students in journalism programs. In 2023, we started a project with Hampton University (HBCU) and its journalism program to investigate Virginia universities’ role in slavery, and the reparations they may owe under a state law.

 

 

Benefits

Health Care: We cover the entire premium for health coverage for staff and their dependents; we cover travel and lodging expenses for an employee or dependent who must travel out of state for an abortion because it is illegal in their state of residence; and we cover gender-affirming surgery for employees and dependents.

Juneteenth: Beginning in 2020, Mother Jones has observed Juneteenth as a paid holiday each year.

Union Membership: Since the 1980s, Mother Jones’ non-managerial employees have been represented by UAW Local 2103, with a collective bargaining agreement that determines wages and benefits.

 

 

Staff/Board Demographics

Composition of Mother Jones’ overall staff (as of July 1, 2023):

 
Composition of Mother Jones’ senior leadership (as of July 1, 2023):

Composition of Mother Jones’ Board of Directors (as of July 1, 2023):

 

 

 

Social Impact Reporting

Mother Jones centers on reporting that looks out for the little guy and boosts marginalized voices that have historically been ignored. We prioritize our audience’s clamor for impact, showing how bad actors work and what positive change would look like. We expose wrongdoing and villains—and spotlight those who do battle with both. Above all, we seek to inform and engage and expand our audiences, because the identity of a Mother Jones reader is someone who wants to learn, and then take that knowledge to make change.

No surprise, then, that a key factor differentiating Mother Jones from other journalistic voices has always been that our work is informed by a commitment to justice and a fuller democracy—values that we are proud to wear on our sleeve.

Below are just a few stories that highlight this work.