Nonprofit Journalism and Mother Jones

The New York Times reports that the financial situation of Mother Jones is putting the idea of preserving print journalism through using the nonprofit form to the test.  According to the article, Mother Jones, which publishes bimonthly, has seen its finances strained by both a a 23% drop in advertising revenue during 2008 and a decline in major donations.  At the same time, the magazine has been able to avoid layoffs by belt-tightening in other areas.  The article notes that other publications with nonprofit ties have also had to adjust their operations because of financial troubles, including the nonprofit Christian Science Monitor that announced last fall its poor finances were forcing it to switch to a mostly digital format in 2009 and the for-profit Congressional Quarterly, which is indirectly owned by the nonprofit Poynter Institute and which has been put up for sale.

LHM