Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Jon Rude First Draft A Journal of Value Of all mothers, Mother Jones advertises itself as "smart, fearless journalism." If only we all had mothers who looked this deeply through current events. This is a unique journal which holds itself to high standards in both a journalistic and moral sense. As the website says, they look for articles that are "Hard-hitting, investigative reports exposing government cover-ups, corporate malfeasance, scientific myopia, institutional fraud or hypocrisy, etc." It's a journal that likes to get facts, shocking facts, about what people care about. The pages of the journal are ridden with ads devoted to the environment and environmentally concerned companies. Even financial investors advertize themselves as "green" investors (pg3). A cigarette company has an entire page add with "Natural" as their larges printed word. Educational institutions also claim add space that contributes to the worldly responsibility saying "change yourself, change the world" (pg 21). By using the adds in this journal alone, you could help end animal cloning (pg. 33), drink organic coffee (pg 32), invest in economically sensitive companies (pg 25), get information about fixing your pet (pg 21), and even discover how to take part in the "green festival" (pg 35). All of it is riddled with the underlying message of social responsibility. ...read more.

Middle

Gary Greenberg is a contributing writer who is also psychotherapist, and his work has appeared in The New Yorker and Best American Science and Nature Writing. It's clear that they editors believe, as their website claims, that they "assume that our readers are sufficiently smart and skeptical." Though, when reading the articles it is clear that a degree is not needed to read this journal. Technical terms are not used freely or thoughtlessly. All in all, this journal claims, and lives up to those claims, to be a smart and justifiable journalism. It's a publication that's not a slave to it's advertizers, and respects different viewpoints. I could see favor given to stories with shock value, but the overall theme of the journal, of global responsibility, would not be compromised. A Journal of Interest In Jennifer Gonnerman's article "School of Shock," she describes the extremely controversial disciplinary actions of the Judge Rotenberg Educational center located in Massachusetts. The center was originally set up for children with such extreme behavioral problems that they could not be a part of a normal classroom. Electric shocks are used on about half of the 234 children within the facility which charges $220,000 a year for each student. ...read more.

Conclusion

The Subject, first and formost, must be one of large consequence. Either look to meet a large interest with a large number of people, or look for a topic that would shock a large number of people. Also, the topic must be something that can be affected or has subsequent consequences. To sum it up in a few words, it should be a new view on a popular subject. As for your experience with the subject, well years of schooling aren't required to write for Mother Jones, but years of experience might be. Not only will this journal hold your writing and journalistic talents to a high level, but many people who have written on a subject for the journal have also written a book about it; and it's been published. If you've been published in big name journals like The New Yorker, or Rolling Stone, that might work also. And finally the tone of your writing must be affirmative action. The editors of this magazine seek to change the world with it, so think along the lines of that. Other than a lot of research, aim to persuade readers to take action. Who knows, maybe Mother Jones will change the world some day, and you could be a part of it. ...read more.

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