Mother Jones Announces Seven Newsroom Promotions
Mother Jones recently announced seven newsroom promotions, ranging from editing and reporting to photography and video. The changes were announced Oct. 27; and the comments below are from Editor-in-Chief Clara Jeffery.
- Samantha Michaels, Senior Reporter. Her dogged and sensitive reporting into criminal justice changes minds; her “failure to protect” investigation is just the latest example. She started at Mother Jones in 2014.
- Dan Friedman, Senior Reporter. He is responsible for some very impactful journalism, by holding powerful people accountable. Dan’s yearslong work in cultivating sources led to his Steve Bannon tapes being projected onto the January 6 committee hearing wall. He started at Mother Jones in 2017.
- Mark Murrmann, Photo Director. He has long been a careful scouter of talent, and his peers recognize him as one of the best photo editors at work today. In the past year-plus, Mark has diversified our contributors, with nearly half the freelance photographers hired being people of color. He started at Mother Jones in 2007.
- Hannah Levintova, Special Projects Editor. Hannah was the engine running Mother Jones’ expansive private equity package. She will add muscle and leadership (and her own reporting) to complex, long-term investigations and packages. She started at Mother Jones in 2011.
- Sam Van Pykeren, Digital Producer. He plays a critical role in keeping our brand fresh, most recently as our TikTok whisperer. He picked up awards for his video work on voting rights and January 6, and will continue to optimize our portfolio of visual journalism across all our channels. He started at Mother Jones in 2018.
- Daniel King, Standards and Copy Editor. He has been a phenomenal champion of accuracy, grace, and well-articulated standards, be it on grammar and punctuation or how best to navigate the language of cultural change. He started at Mother Jones in 2019.
- Ari Berman, National Voting Rights Correspondent. His reporting has always been indispensable. But as the risks to democracy have grown both more urgent and varied, he has done a phenomenal job explaining the intricacies and the stakes, not just to our readers, but, via his many media appearances and through outreach events, to the broader public. He started at Mother Jones in 2017.