The story behind Mother Jones’ first-ever reader listening sessions

When Mother Jones is working on an important project, our first instinct is to tell you about it. That’s why I’m excited to share our work to better serve Black readers. I’m eager to share what we’ve learned so far, tell you what work lies ahead, and hear how this work resonates with you. It strikes a really personal note with me, and I’ll tell you more about that, too.

In the fall of 2022, for the first time ever, Mother Jones launched a series of focus groups so that we can better serve Black readers. Focus groups might sound surprisingly old-school in this digital era. But that was exactly the point: If you get a bunch of people together to talk about Mother Jones, what might they say? The pilot was part of a long-term project to evolve and transform as our nonprofit news organization approaches our 50-year anniversary in 2026. We want to make sure we can serve a deeply engaged, multiracial and multicultural audience and grow that audience. While our focus groups were with Black audiences, the projects to expand our audience encompass other communities, too. And we intend to expand the focus groups to other communities in the future. But more on that in a bit. 

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