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Time was when Mother Jones was a tough-minded, muckraking journal that inspired investigative reporters everywhere. Remember Mark Dowie's exposé of the exploding Pinto automobile-- caused by a Ford Motor Company cost-benefit analysis that resulted in a decision not to make an $11 repair to the car's gas tank (September/ October 1977)? Or the magazine's account of the marketing of infant formula in the Third World--where there was no potable water with which to mix it (December 1977)? Or, perhaps most important, Mother Jones' detailed analysis of how pharmaceutical giant A.H. Robbins produced and marketed the Dalkon Shield birth-control device without proper testing (November 1976)? These flashes of journalistic brilliance showed how straight-ahead reporting on important topics could change the world, not just explain it. Since then, the true investigative side of national journalism has been displaced by a model that worships entertainment. In such an environment, interest in Mother Jones has flagged, especially as its core audience has become more comfortable with itself and the magazine has tried to hold onto that audience. Thus the need to reposition Mother Jones for a new generation--the magazine hopes--of younger readers with whom it can forge a more powerful and effective relationship. A new-look MoJo is set to arrive on Portland's newsstands soon. Judging from an advance copy, it's clearly more lively and colorful than it was--"a magazine," it announces on page 9, "whose visual language is as strong and sharp as its writing." Just as Portland has few independent news sources, the American public is increasingly limited in the content and perspective of its media. This development, while immensely profitable for the largest information conglomerates, has all but eliminated critical thinking from our mainstream media. In such an era, publications with the history and tradition of Mother Jones are important, especially when they remind us--as the new issue does--of the incredibly cynical way in which modern media barons like Rupert Murdoch operate. They're not out to change the world or even make a difference. They simply want to maximize the benefits of global capitalism. At first blush, Mother Jones' tabloid-style special section on Murdoch looks jarringly over-the-top. The writing, too, offers something of a departure from the magazine's usual fare, reading more like a travel log than hard-hitting reportage. Yet the overall effect is positively chilling and will make you think twice the next time you turn to Murdoch's Fox channel for sports. As with any redesign, the true test of the new Mother Jones will be the third issue, not the first. By that time, it may be apparent that the magazine's newfound emphasis on design will simply have served to make it seem less serious. Here's hoping something far more worthwhile can be sustained--a new way of presenting important political and cultural information on a national scale.
originally published August 26, 1998 |
