A note from our CEO:
I want to share some exciting and important news with you. We are merging and joining forces with Mother Jones, publisher of Mother Jones magazine, to create a stronger, more resilient news organization with the ability to reach wider audiences across multiple platforms.
I can share some details and my own personal enthusiasm today. Whether you’re a Reveal listener, a Mother Jones reader or someone who just cares about journalists speaking truth to power, this is good news for you. The reporting you rely on is about to get more reach, impact and visibility.
By merging, we’re creating a powerful, multiplatform newsroom that meets audiences everywhere they get their news and strengthens independent investigative journalism against the multiple crises it confronts.
What Does It mean in Practice?
We will merge our two newsrooms into one, distributing our journalism through multiple well-established and immensely respected platforms. The Reveal podcast and radio show will remain Reveal; CIR Studios keeps charging ahead with documentary films; Mother Jones magazine stays Mother Jones magazine; Mother Jones’ expansive web and social presence will bring it all to people no matter where they get their news.
Our coverage priorities and big projects won’t go away. They will grow stronger.
A journalist working in our combined organization will increase the reach and impact of their investigations immediately – across millions of digital readers and followers, more than 500 radio stations, a print magazine, a podcast, multiple newsletters and multiple social media platforms. We will also continue to partner with newsrooms large and small across the country.
Bottom line: We will continue doing journalism that you can’t find anywhere else – deep dives and investigations that are all too rare in today’s media landscape, coverage of underreported topics and overlooked stories, and unique perspectives and compelling and fact-based reporting.
By combining, we will strengthen investigative public-interest journalism while others are pulling back. And a public eager for trustworthy reporting will continue to get fact-checked, ethical, rigorous journalism in all formats, no matter where they live and how they get their news. This will allow us to reach new audiences in new ways and expose more people to independent media – especially people who have not always been served by traditional news outlets.
Elevating Investigative Journalism Everywhere
Supporting the entire civic news ecosystem, especially local, community and nonprofit news organizations, is a key part of our mission we’re doubling down on.
Many great smaller newsrooms don’t have as much capacity for investigative reporting or the specialized multiplatform storytelling that can reach new audiences and make a big splash. We will partner with these newsrooms to help tell important stories and expand their audience and impact. And we will celebrate and share notable investigative work from our peers, so people can more easily discover reporting that matters.
This is a moment of reckoning for our democracy, brought about in part by the failure of the media market. Newsrooms have been decimated, with resource-intensive, in-depth investigative reporting at greatest risk. Merging is a huge and exciting step forward, showing that with a broad base of support – from people and organizations who care about independent investigative reporting – it’s possible to strengthen the type of journalism this moment demands, even in today’s brutal conditions.
So How Will This All Work?
It won’t be easy. Nothing is in journalism! Over the last several months, we have been poring over the numbers and working hard to raise the additional funds needed to make this transformation a reality. A lot of people and foundations stepped up, which gives us immense hope. And just as our journalistic strengths complement each other so well, so do our diverse revenue models: Some 50,000 Mother Jones donors combined with CIR’s long-standing relationships with foundations leads to a more resilient, diverse funding picture.
I am excited, grateful, energized on a personal level and ready to join forces with Mother Jones – and with you – to strengthen journalism and democracy at this immensely consequential moment.
Warm regards,
Robert “Rosey” Rosenthal
CEO, The Center for Investigative Reporting
Want More Information?
Of course you do, since you’re a fan of Mother Jones or Reveal or both! The merger is expected to take effect in 2024, and today’s announcement (here’s the official press release) is just the beginning.
CIR/Reveal Overview and Impact
Founded: 1977 | History and impact
Three signature stories:
- “Victim/Suspect,” a documentary film that uncovers a nationwide pattern of young women reporting sexual assaults to police – only to be charged with making a false report and arrested. “Victim/Suspect” started streaming on Netflix in May 2023 and was nominated for a Critics Choice Documentary Award.
- Behind the Smiles, a 2019 expose on the extensive injuries sustained by Amazon warehouse workers in the retail giant’s quest for speed, which was a Pulitzer Prize finalist.
- Kept Out, a 2018 investigation about how banks keep people of color from becoming homeowners.
Areas of focus: Voting, workers’ rights, reproductive rights, criminal justice, housing, immigration, the environment, sustainability and more, all often in partnership with local and community newsrooms.
Subscribe to Reveal on the podcast app of your choice.
Get The Weekly Reveal newsletter with each week’s new episode, along with context for the stories of the day and updates on in-depth investigations.
Mother Jones Overview and Impact
Founded: 1976 | History and FAQ
Three signature stories:
- A huge undercover investigation in 2016 of the country’s private prison system.
- David Corn’s 2012 scoop about then-presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s disparaging 47% of voters.
- Samantha Michaels’ yearlong, groundbreaking reporting into “failure to protect” laws. Published in 2022, it sparked responses from legislators and law enforcement officials all around the country and has been honored with at least half a dozen journalism awards, including the National Magazine Award for best video for its accompanying 17-minute documentary.
Areas of focus: Voting rights, disinformation, corruption and foreign influence, dark money, gender justice, racial justice, social justice, climate – and how they intersect.
Get the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter that readers rave about as a trusted source that makes it easy to cut through the noise and get ahead of things, with in-depth journalism on underreported beats and perspectives on the day’s news.
A Mini Case Study
This isn’t some new shiny object or inflated promise to fix journalism. CIR and Mother Jones’ histories of great investigative reporting and powerful partnership go back four decades.
In one recent high-profile and high-impact collaboration, we jointly exposed abusive labor practices by one of the biggest sugar suppliers to the United States. It led to a House committee investigation and the eventual prohibition of sugar imports from that company. And we recently broke the news about a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into the working conditions and abuses that we brought to light.
How big of a deal is this? According to a retired special agent: “This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains.”
That’s the power of putting investigative journalism everywhere.
Join Us
This will not be an easy road. Help us celebrate the incredible news and kick-start a new chapter in journalism – support CIR/Reveal and our new combined organization with a much-needed year-end donation today.