Russ Rymer - Mother Jones
By Rob Mentzer
Taking over as editor in chief of a left-wing magazine only a few months after the reelection of a conservative president could seem like a daunting task. For Russ Rymer, it is an exciting opportunity.
Rymer started as editor in chief of Mother Jones on Feb. 7, with instructions from publisher Jay Harris to produce “great reporting that searches out truth and brings back scalps.”
“The core of Mother Jones is its investigative stories,” Rymer said. “We’re a magazine that was founded to provide investigative stories, and that remains our core mission. … As much as we are left-wing and dedicated to left-wing causes, we are dedicated to presenting the facts.”
Rymer comes to Mother Jones from Portland Monthly, where he was executive editor. He has written for The New Yorker, the New York Times Magazine, Harper’s, The Atlantic Monthly and other magazines. He is the author of Genie: A Scientific Tragedy, a finalist for the National Book Critics’ Circle Award that was later adapted into a PBS documentary. His second book is American Beach: A Saga of Race, Wealth, and Memory.
Besides investigative reporting, the magazine also offers social and political essays and cultural coverage including book and music reviews. “These days, you can’t really think politically without thinking culturally,” Rymer said. “Our arts and culture coverage is an extension of our politics.”
Just as conservative media outlets and foundations flourished during the Clinton administration, the Bush administration has led many on the left to seek out media that articulate their political views. Rymer takes the reins of Mother Jones at a time when the publication’s circulation has climbed from 130,000 in 1998 to 240,000 this year.
“People are responding to the current administration by looking for news outlets that will explain to them what they see going on around them, and many of them have turned to us,” he said. “I think people feel let down by the mainstream news sources. For one thing, you can’t report honestly if you’re scared to death that someone will call you ‘liberal media,’ which is an insult that has intimidated the mainstream press.”
As for changes, Rymer plans to keep the format largely the same but to do things more boldly. “We envision having a lot brighter and quicker presentation of some of our stories, to give room for us to be more in-depth and at-length with some of them,” he said.
Pitching Tips
Rymer is particularly annoyed by pitches that are “just thrown out there scattershot,” rather than sent to a particular magazine. “I get PR announcements for European-style bathroom fixtures,” he said. “Those people are not doing the PR community a favor by sending that material to me. The most important thing is that the PR professional be smart about who they’re sending to.
“Things don’t stand out to me based on bells and whistles and fancy treatment,” he added. “Quite the opposite: what stands out to me is something that gets right to the point. If a press release spends of a lot of time on preparation, or is slow to load up, that’s a turn-off.”
Rymer is receptive to any contact that shows the professional has read the magazine.
He also noted that he is open to product pitches if they “genuinely do reflect a liberal or green point of view, for example a hybrid engine.”
