About: Mother Jones magazine’s A.B.C. audited circulation for the second half of 2004 was 250,563, the highest figure in the 29-year-old magazine’s history.

For Immediate Release:
February 24, 2005
Contact:
Richard Reynolds
415/321-1740
reynolds@motherjones.com

Mother Jones' Circulation Hits a Quarter Million

Highest paid circulation in the investigative magazine’s history

Mother Jones magazine's A.B.C. audited circulation for the second half of 2004 was 250,563, the highest figure in the 29-year-old magazine's history. Mother Jones' circulation has been rising rapidly for the past six years, growing from 130,000 in the second half of 1998.

By comparison, the Atlantic Monthly's circulation is 424,797, Harper's 229,204, The Nation's 184,296, and The New Republic's 64,544.

Mother Jones publisher Jay Harris credits the magazine's editors, smart promotion, and a charged political environment.

"Because the Bush Administration has raised the stakes in today's politics–with preemptive war and crony capitalism, unprecedented government snooping, and assaults on retirement security–many people are looking for reporting that goes beyond what they can get on the nightly news," says Harris. "I'm pleased that Mother Jones has been offering that substance."

Mother Jones has a new editor-in-chief, Russ Rymer, who joined the magazine on February 7. Rymer says, "As our President likes to say, the people have spoken. We're looking on our circulation boost as a mandate to take all the things Mother Jones does well, and do them even better. Readers are subscribing because they need an independent voice, strong reporting, and analysis that's un-cowed and uncompromising. And that's what we're all about."