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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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

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