The Center for Investigative Reporting

“The board of directors of the foundation for national progress, dba mother jones magazine, approved the formation of a financial audit commitee and a finance committee in keeping with the corporation's bylaws that state: the board of directors may, by resolution adopted by a majority of the directors then in office, create any number of board committees, each consisting of two or more directors, to serve at the pleasure of the board. Appointments to any board committee shall be made by any method determined by a majority vote of the directors then in office. Board committees may be given all the authority of the board, except for the power to: (a) set the number of directors within a range specified in these bylaws; (b) fill vacancies on the board of directors or on any board committee; (c) elect directors or remove any director without cause; (d) fix compensation of directors for serving on the board or any board committee; (e) amend or repeal these bylaws or adopt new bylaws; (f) adopt amendments to the articles of incorporation of this corporation; (g) amend or repeal any resolution of the board of directors which by its express terms is not so amenable or repealable; (h) create any other board committees or appoint the members of any board committees; or (i) approve any merger, reorganization, voluntary dissolution, or disposition of substantially all of the assets of this corporation. As such, the financial audit committee and finance committee approve the form 990 prior to filing; a complete copy of the form 990 is distributed to the entire board of directors prior to filing.”

“As per the corporation's conflict of interest policy, and to ensure that the foundation operates in a manner consistent with its educational purposes and that it does not engage in activities that could jeopardize its status as an organization exempt from federal income tax, period reviews shall be conducted by the department supervisor (relevant to the transaction or arrangement), publisher, ceo, cfo, and board of director's audit committee. The periodic reviews shall, at a minimum, occur annually and shall include the following subjects: * whether compensation arrangements and benefits are reasonable and are as the result of arm's-length bargaining. * whether acquisitions of services result in inurement or impermissible private benefit. * whether transactions and arrangements with vendors and other organizations conform to written policies, are properly recorded, reflect reasonable payments for goods and services, further the foundation's educational purposes, and do not result in inurement or impermissible private benefit. * whether agreements with employees and third-party payors further the foundation's educational purposes and do not result in inurement or impermissible private benefit. In conducting these periodic reviews, the foundation may, but need not, use outside advisors. If outside experts are used, their use shall not relieve the foundation of its responsibility for ensuring that periodic reviews are conducted.”

“The ceo's salary and performance is reviewed annually by an elected performance review/compensation committee as part of the board of directors. This was last performed and relayed to the ceo in october 2018 pertaining to 2018 performance. The ceo's salary is adjusted according to a cola each year based on the bay area cpi. Any additional wage increase is based on merit and approved by the board of directors. The cfo's salary and performance is reviewed annually by the ceo with input from members of the senior management team. This was last performed and relayed to the cfo in september 2018 pertaining to 2018 performance. The cfo's salary is adjusted according to a cola each year based on the bay area cpi. Any additional wage increase is based on merit and approved by the ceo.”

“The foundation for national progress provides a copy of forms 990 and 990-t for public inspection on request (distributed either through the u.s. Postal office or as a pdf document attached to an email). Additionally, the foundation for national progress provides guidestar (a public nonprofit tracking web site) a copy of forms 990 and 990-t for public inspection. Further, the foundation's website, motherjones.com, publishes the foundation's most current annual audited financial statements for public inspection.”

“In what continues to be an historic period for american politics and public debate, mother jones reports on the underlying forces and larger issues that have the potential to shape the conversation. We continue our commitment to investigative reporting with a focus on two major themes: politics, corruption, and the realignment of political giving: money and politics is at the heart of our reporting and has been since we started publishing 42 years ago. It's why we created the first online data-driven investigation of political big money. Working in collaboration with research operations like opensecrets.org and the sunlight foundation, we've continued reporting on money and politics but deepened our investigative attention into the money that doesn't show up in the official databases. Today, mother jones has one of the largest and most experienced money and politics reporting teams of any journalism organization in the country. With more than two dozen journalists in our washington bureau, this is one of the deepest benches of any dc newsroom. From bureau chief david corn's and reporter hannah levintova's timely and deep lead coverage of the russia-trump story, to andy kroll's and russ choma's investigations into president trump's conflict-ridden business relationships, to a.j. Vicens and dan friedman's reporting on the rise of the surveillance state and the transformation in the american foreign policy agenda, mother jones is there to tell the story deeply, iteratively, and engagingly. We are focusing our attention on stories where we've traditionally done groundbreaking work dark money sources attempting to shape elections. We are investigating who are the dark money players trying to influence the next congress? Can we see them placing early bets? What are the pathways of influence at a time when the most important channels for public debate are controlled by privately owned algorithms, when moscow is pushing just as hard to target american voters as the koch brothers do, and when political donors (on both sides of the aisle) play a bigger role in picking candidates than parties? Our experienced money and influence team investigate the tectonic shifts in how big money is deployed to shape this historic election. For example, andy kroll's recent story on the roots of cambridge analytica, the uk-research organization funded by robert mercer to help conservative u.s. Candidates avoid campaign finance laws (and now under fire for harvesting personal data from facebook) builds on years of his reporting. Climate and attacks on the environment: last year's hurricane season was the latest reminder that climate change is no longer an "if or even a "when:" the story to cover now is how we'll respondpolitically, economically, and culturally. One issue in particular that resonates across the political spectrum is the impact of climate change on health, from the rise in infectious diseases to the consequences of carbon-emitting industries. Our reporting on these issues engages wide audiences and we will double down on these stories. We are also investigating how pollution and climate change hurt communities of color and other disadvantaged populations, like the west virginia coal-mining community so polluted, its own residents want it wiped off the map. Nathalie baptiste in our washington bureau wrote about this in one of our most-read stories of 2018. Threats to the environment are increasingly urgent, and mother jones doubles down on environmental reporting, delivering the facts and context to millions of people concerned about the fate of the earth. We are digging deep on the agendas and conflicts of interest of cabinet members, congressional leaders and industry chiefs, to explain what their actions mean for the nation's public lands, environmental and human health, and the world's climate. Together with the climate desk a partnership that has grown to 17 terrific publishers we have a combined audience of more than 100 million reade”

“Since 1980, mother jones has placed an emphasis on creating opportunities for aspiring journalists through the ben bagdikian fellowship program. The program is named in recognition of bagdikian's many contributions to journalism--as an investigative reporter for the washington post who helped break the pentagon papers story; as a media critic who put the problem of media consolidation on the public agenda; and as an educator who helped guide the journalism program at the university of california, berkeley into the digital era. Ben's professional record, personal integrity, and commitment to social justice inspired us to name mother jones' internship program in his honor. While there are a number of general journalism and reporting internships available for students or recent college graduates, only mother jones puts such an emphasis on investigative reporting. Among the largest training programs in the independent media community, the ben bagdikian fellowship program gives aspiring journalists intensive training in what it takes to publish outstanding, independent journalism, to meet deadlines, and to work as part of a professional team. The ben bagdikian fellowship program is a rare opportunity for new journalists to work alongside some of the top reporters and journalists in the business, and to learn the inner workings of multimedia national reporting with a special focus on investigative journalism. Depending on funding availability, the program also offers internships for those interested in art and photography, nonprofit public affairs and social media, and the business and technology side of publishing. Graduates leave with practical knowledge, work that they can be proud of, and a network of friends and colleagues that will last a lifetime. Mother jones' training program is an essential if also unrecognized element of american journalism's infrastructure. Of the more than 800 interns and fellows who have passed through mother jones' internship program since 1980, more than half moved on to a career in journalism or the media at some of the nation's most prestigious media outlets. Graduates of the program work throughout the national media world at outlets ranging from the new york times and the wall street journal to national public radio and salon.com.”

“The foundation for national progress publishes mother jones, a magazine and multi-platform digital news site, and directs the ben bagdikian fellowship program. Its mission is to produce revelatory journalism that, in its power and reach, seeks to inform and inspire a more just and democratic world. Mother jones delivers groundbreaking investigative journalism via a website, print magazine, social media, and podcasts to an audience of nearly 12 million each month. With a 42-year history, mother jones is a model for a nonprofit journalism organization a digital-first newsroom with the journalistic strengths that come from decades of experience in long-form investigative reporting. Mother jones has grown from 600,000 readers a decade ago and transformed ourselves from a print-driven bi-monthly to a digital-first newsroom but one that retains our magazine dna, bringing the best in deep, contextual investigative reporting together with a digital-native's savvy sense of what people are talking and thinking about right now. And we've been recognized by our peers in the process, including being named as 2017 magazine of the year by the american society of magazine editors. We've accomplished this thanks in good measure to a business model that is powered by reader support: two-thirds of our revenue comes from our readers, either as subscriptions or donations (the balance is evenly split between advertising and foundation grants). Reader support is at the heart of our identity -- our donor-supporter community of 50,000 individuals is the largest of any non-profit media organization outside public broadcasting. As the economic model that supported the american news media has all but disappeared, and an increasingly divisive political climate makes accurate, truthful reporting on national affairs essential for keeping the public informed, the need for mother jones' brand of journalism is greater than ever. Mother jones' works to safeguard the truth through unflinching, independent, and effective investigative journalism, and our innovative non-profit business model ensures we are beholden to no one. This is a journalism organization with real impact on the issues of the day. Many believe our reporting in 2012 on mitt romney's ill-spoken comments on the "47 percent" helped turn an election. Our pre-election scoop in october 2016 on how the steele dossier was in the fbi's possession set the table for what may be the single most important scandal of the trump administration the potentially-criminal ties to russian state and economic interests that may have fatally compromised his administration. Our 35,000-word, four-month undercover investigation into the private prison industry changed the debate. Beyond politics, we also report on issues that cross the partisan border; our frontline reporting on baltimore's opioid crisis is an example. Here is journalism that brings a national problem to life, puts a human face on the trouble, and points to ways in which we can change our laws, policies, and practices. And as we do this work, we constantly look for the best possible way to present our work so it reaches our readers no matter where they find our reporting. For instance, we've launched a new documentary film residency program at mother jones that is giving us a real insight into how a more complex conversation between reporter and documentarian can be structured, and how the combined editorial imaginations of both do better than either on their own to reach readers where they live online and on a small screen. Driven by a rich mix of reportorial voices and by-lines, our work increasingly focuses on the intersection of racial and class inequality and how they shape criminal justice policies, patterns of community violence, public health, political influence, and much more. As a result, our readership is diversifying, in terms of age, ethnicity, and political leanings. At a moment when threats of war and climate disruption, of economic troub”

“Fiscally sponsored projects are an effective and efficient means of launching new grant funded initiatives and delivering public services. Fiscal sponsorships provide a legal framework for projects, activities, ideas, and organizations that share the mission of mother jones, and enable organizations to grow and scale while focusing on their mission. Mother jones has a long history of providing high quality services and support to the nonprofit community and has hosted close to 20 sponsored projects over the last 20 years.”

“Consultants: program service expenses 530,324. Management and general expenses 81,315. Fundraising expenses 17,022. Total expenses 628,661. Donor/membership communications: program service expenses 838,703. Management and general expenses 1,534. Fundraising expenses 294,962. Total expenses 1,135,199.”

“The process has not changed from prior year.”