Mother Jones Bolsters Its Democracy Coverage With Nearly $1 Million in Grants
Craig Newmark Philanthropies Issues $100,000 Grant to Mother Jones; Reaches $1.5 Million in Support Since 2016
In a sign of the continued concern about the fragility of America’s democracy, several foundations contributed close to $1 million this fiscal year to sustain Mother Jones’ ambitious democracy reporting, including most recently a $100,000 investment from Craig Newmark Philanthropies. The dedicated funding will allow Mother Jones to continue pursuing investigative reporting on voter suppression, disinformation, extremism, and political corruption.
“By committing to democracy as a top reporting priority more than a decade ago, Mother Jones became an early warning system for attacks on free and fair elections,” said Mother Jones CEO Monika Bauerlein. “Our reporting helps people connect the dots and understand how threats to democracy affect their communities, and how they can get involved. Craig Newmark appreciates the scale of the commitment involved, and his generous support helps keep this coverage going strong.”
Craig Newmark Philanthropies and the Craigslist Charitable Fund have given $1.5 million to Mother Jones since 2016 to support the nonprofit news organization’s democracy and disinformation reporting. Craig Newmark has donated more than $250 million to many causes over the years to help protect democracy.
“With all the forces determined to extinguish people’s right to vote and shut down their access to reliable information, one of the best ways to push back is through trusted reporting from respected newsrooms like Mother Jones,” said Newmark. “Exposing these types of corroding influences is essential if we hope to remain a country rooted in truth and integrity, and Mother Jones approaches this work with a rigor and depth matched by few others in the news industry.”
Mother Jones’ democracy initiative is also supported by the Park Foundation, the Manaaki Foundation, the Colombe Peace Foundation, Barbra Streisand, the Ted Snowdon Foundation, the Wallace Global Fund, and the Jubitz Family Foundation.
Mother Jones was the first national media outlet to report on voter suppression in a regular and deep way, dedicating nearly an entire magazine issue to the subject in 2012, and expanded its commitment in 2017 after hiring Ari Berman, who investigated how voter suppression became a major part of Republicans’ political strategy. More recently, in 2022, democracy coverage included Dan Friedman’s story uncovering audio of Republican political adviser Steve Bannon urging Donald Trump to sow chaos after the 2020 presidential election, and David Corn reporting how the Kremlin recommended that Russian media promote Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s pro-Putin views about the war in Ukraine.