The Christian Science Monitor
Encyclopedia
The Christian Science Monitor (CSM) is an international newspaper published daily online, Monday to Friday, and weekly in print. It was started in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy
, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist
. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.
The CSM is a newspaper that covers international and United States
current events. The paper includes a daily religious feature on "The Home Forum" page, but states that the publication is not a platform for evangelizing.
On October 28, 2008, Editor John Yemma announced that the Monitor would be discontinuing their daily print version to focus on web-based publishing. Instead of a daily print edition, CSM would publish a weekly news magazine with an international focus.
of its patron church. However, at its founder Eddy's request, a daily religious article has appeared in every issue of the Monitor. Eddy also required the inclusion of "Christian Science
" in the paper's name, over initial opposition by some of her advisors who thought the religious reference might repel a secular audience.
The Monitors inception was, in part, a response by Eddy to the journalism of her day, which relentlessly covered the sensations and scandals surrounding her new religion with varying degrees of accuracy. In addition, Joseph Pulitzer
's New York World
was consistently critical of Eddy, and—according to many historians—this, along with a derogatory article in McClure's
, furthered Eddy's decision to found her own media outlet.
Eddy declared that the Monitors mission should be "to injure no man, but to bless all mankind."
The Monitor was originally published in broadsheet
form but later switched to tabloid format. The newspaper has struggled since the 1960s to enlarge its circulation and turn a profit. The church's directors and the manager of the Christian Science Publishing Society
were purportedly forced to plan cutbacks and closures (later denied), which led in 1989 to the mass protest resignations by its famed editor Kay Fanning (an ASNE
president and former editor of the Anchorage Daily News
), managing editor David Anable, associate editor David Winder, and several other newsroom staff. These developments presaged administrative moves to scale back the print newspaper in favor of expansions into radio, a glossy magazine, shortwave broadcasting, and television. Expenses, however, rapidly outpaced revenues, contradicting predictions by church directors. On the brink of bankruptcy, the board was forced to close the broadcast programs.
The paper has been known for avoiding sensationalism
, producing a "distinctive brand of nonhysterical journalism". In 1997, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
, a publication critical of United States policy in the Middle East, praised the Monitor for its objective and informative coverage of Islam
and the Middle East
.
s, the most recent in 2002.
In April 2003, after being provided documents by a former Iraqi General, several news organizations (including the Monitor) reported that George Galloway
was accused by a U.S. Senate Committee led by Norm Coleman
of personally profiting from corruption within the United Nations
Oil-for-Food program. The Monitor investigated the matter, concluding that the documents were "almost certainly forgeries," and, in response to a lawsuit by Galloway, apologized in court.
In 2006, Jill Carroll
, a freelance reporter for the Monitor, was kidnapped in Baghdad, and released safely after 82 days. Although Carroll was initially a freelancer, the paper worked tirelessly for her release, even hiring her as a staff writer shortly after her abduction to ensure that she had financial benefits, according to Bergenheim. Beginning in August 2006, the Monitor published an account of Carroll's kidnapping and subsequent release, with first-person reporting from Carroll and others involved.
as an integral part of its business model. The Monitor was one of the first newspapers to put its text online in 1996, and was also one of the first to launch a PDF
edition in 2001. It was also an early pioneer of RSS
feeds.
In 2005, Richard Bergenheim
, a Christian Science practitioner
, was named the new editor; shortly before his death in 2008, Bergenheim was replaced by a veteran Boston Globe editor and former Monitor reporter John Yemma.
In October 2008, citing losses of $US18.9 million per year versus $US12.5 million in annual revenue, the Monitor announced that it would cease printing daily and instead print weekly editions starting in April 2009. The last daily print edition was published on March 27, 2009. The Monitor continues to offer daily news online on its website and via email. Yemma stated that the move to go digital was made because they recognized that CSMs reach would be greater online than in print. He has also stated that in the next five years the CSM would work to increase their online readership fivefold, from 5 million page-views to 25 million.
As the paper has turned its attention to online storytelling, it has been breaking ground with multimedia
projects like "Little Bill Clinton
", a narrative
serial following a year in the life of a young refugee.
The weekly magazine follows on from the Monitors London edition, also a weekly, launched in 1960 and the weekly World Edition which replaced the London edition in 1974.
between 1984 and 1997. It featured several one-hour news broadcasts a day, as well as top of the hour news bulletins. The service was widely heard on public radio stations throughout the United States. The Monitor later launched an international broadcast over shortwave
radio, called the World Service of the Christian Science Monitor. Weekdays were news-led, but weekend schedules were exclusively dedicated to religious programming. That service ceased operations on June 28, 1997.
In 1986, the Monitor started producing a current affairs television series, The Christian Science Monitor Reports, which was distributed via syndication to television stations across the United States. In 1988, the Christian Science Monitor Reports won a Peabody Award
for a series of reports on Islamic fundamentalism. That same year, the program was canceled and the Monitor created a daily television program, World Monitor, anchored by former NBC correspondent John Hart, which was initially shown on the Discovery Channel. In 1991, World Monitor moved to the Monitor Channel, a 24-hour news and information channel. The only religious programming on the channel was a five-minute Christian Science program early each morning. In 1992, after eleven months on the air, the service was shut down amid huge financial losses.
Mary Baker Eddy
Mary Baker Eddy was the founder of Christian Science , a Protestant American system of religious thought and practice religion adopted by the Church of Christ, Scientist, and others...
, the founder of the Church of Christ, Scientist
Church of Christ, Scientist
The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, by Mary Baker Eddy. She was the author of the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Christian Science teaches that the "allness" of God denies the reality of sin, sickness, death, and the material world...
. As of 2009, the print circulation was 67,703.
The CSM is a newspaper that covers international and United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
current events. The paper includes a daily religious feature on "The Home Forum" page, but states that the publication is not a platform for evangelizing.
On October 28, 2008, Editor John Yemma announced that the Monitor would be discontinuing their daily print version to focus on web-based publishing. Instead of a daily print edition, CSM would publish a weekly news magazine with an international focus.
Concept and inception
Despite its name, the Monitor is not a religious-themed paper, and does not promote the doctrineDoctrine
Doctrine is a codification of beliefs or a body of teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the body of teachings in a branch of knowledge or belief system...
of its patron church. However, at its founder Eddy's request, a daily religious article has appeared in every issue of the Monitor. Eddy also required the inclusion of "Christian Science
Christian Science
Christian Science is a system of thought and practice derived from the writings of Mary Baker Eddy and the Bible. It is practiced by members of The First Church of Christ, Scientist as well as some others who are nonmembers. Its central texts are the Bible and the Christian Science textbook,...
" in the paper's name, over initial opposition by some of her advisors who thought the religious reference might repel a secular audience.
The Monitors inception was, in part, a response by Eddy to the journalism of her day, which relentlessly covered the sensations and scandals surrounding her new religion with varying degrees of accuracy. In addition, Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
's New York World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
was consistently critical of Eddy, and—according to many historians—this, along with a derogatory article in McClure's
McClure's
McClure's or McClure's Magazine was an American illustrated monthly periodical popular at the turn of the 20th century. The magazine is credited with creating muckraking journalism. Ida Tarbell's series in 1902 exposing the monopoly abuses of John D...
, furthered Eddy's decision to found her own media outlet.
Eddy declared that the Monitors mission should be "to injure no man, but to bless all mankind."
The Monitor was originally published in broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
form but later switched to tabloid format. The newspaper has struggled since the 1960s to enlarge its circulation and turn a profit. The church's directors and the manager of the Christian Science Publishing Society
Christian Science Publishing Society
The Christian Science Publishing Society was established in 1898 by Mary Baker Eddy and is the publishing arm of The First Church of Christ, Scientist in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located, along with the Mary Baker Eddy Library, in the Publishing Society building at the Christian Science...
were purportedly forced to plan cutbacks and closures (later denied), which led in 1989 to the mass protest resignations by its famed editor Kay Fanning (an ASNE
American Society of Newspaper Editors
The American Society of News Editors is a membership organization for editors, producers or directors in charge of journalistic organizations or departments, deans or faculty at university journalism schools, and leaders and faculty of media-related foundations and training organizations...
president and former editor of the Anchorage Daily News
Anchorage Daily News
The Anchorage Daily News is a daily newspaper based in Anchorage, Alaska, in the United States. It is often referred to colloquially as either "the Daily News" or "the ADN"...
), managing editor David Anable, associate editor David Winder, and several other newsroom staff. These developments presaged administrative moves to scale back the print newspaper in favor of expansions into radio, a glossy magazine, shortwave broadcasting, and television. Expenses, however, rapidly outpaced revenues, contradicting predictions by church directors. On the brink of bankruptcy, the board was forced to close the broadcast programs.
The paper has been known for avoiding sensationalism
Sensationalism
Sensationalism is a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership numbers...
, producing a "distinctive brand of nonhysterical journalism". In 1997, the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
Washington Report on Middle East Affairs
The Washington Report on Middle East Affairs magazine, published nine times per year in Washington, D.C., focuses on "news and analysis from and about the Middle East and U.S...
, a publication critical of United States policy in the Middle East, praised the Monitor for its objective and informative coverage of Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
and the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
.
Notable reporting
Monitor staff have been the recipients of seven Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
s, the most recent in 2002.
- 19501950 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism awards:*Public Service:** The Chicago Daily News and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, for the work of George Thiem and Roy J. Harris, respectively, in exposing the presence of 37 Illinois newspapermen on an Illinois State payroll.*Local Reporting:...
, Pulitzer Prize for International ReportingPulitzer Prize for International ReportingThis Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years , it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting - International...
: Edmund Stevens, for his series of 43 articles written over a three-year residence in Moscow entitled, "This Is Russia Uncensored." - 19671967 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism awards:*Public Service:**The Milwaukee Journal, for its successful campaign to stiffen the law against water pollution in Wisconsin, a notable advance in the national effort for the conservation of natural resources.*Public Service:...
, Pulitzer Prize for International ReportingPulitzer Prize for International ReportingThis Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years , it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting - International...
: R. John Hughes, For his thorough reporting of Indonesia's attempted Transition to the New Order in 1965 and the purge that followed in 1965-66. - 19681968 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism awards:*Public Service:** the Riverside Press-Enterprise, for its exposé of corruption in the courts in connection with the handling of the property and estates of an Indian tribe in California, and its successful efforts to punish the culprits....
, Pulitzer Prize for National ReportingPulitzer Prize for National ReportingThe Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting has been awarded since 1948 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award....
: Howard James, for his series of articles, Crisis in the Courts. - 19691969 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism awards:*Public Service:**The Los Angeles Times, for its expose of wrongdoing within the Los Angeles City Government Commissions, resulting in resignations or criminal convictions of certain members, as well as widespread reforms....
, Pulitzer Prize for National ReportingPulitzer Prize for National ReportingThe Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting has been awarded since 1948 for a distinguished example of reporting on national affairs. The Pulitzer Committee issues an official citation explaining the reasons for the award....
: Robert Cahn, for his inquiry into the future of our national parks and the methods that may help to preserve them. - 19781978 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism awards:*PublicService:**The Philadelphia Inquirer, for a series of articles showing abuses of power by the police in its home city.*Local General or Spot News Reporting:...
, Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and AwardsPulitzer Prize Special Citations and AwardsThe Pulitzer Prize jury has the option of awarding special citations where they consider necessary.-Journalism awards:* 1924: A special prize of $1000 was awarded to the widow of Frank I. Cobb, New York World, in recognition of the distinction of her husband's editorial writing and service.* 1930:...
, Journalism: Richard StroutRichard StroutRichard Strout was an American journalist and commentator. He was national correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor from 1923 and wrote The New Republic's "TRB from Washington" column from 1943 to 1983....
, for distinguished commentary from Washington over many years as staff correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor and contributor to The New RepublicThe New RepublicThe magazine has also published two articles concerning income inequality, largely criticizing conservative economists for their attempts to deny the existence or negative effect increasing income inequality is having on the United States...
. - 19961996 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism awards:* Beat reporting:** Bob Keeler of Newsday, Long Island, New York. For his detailed portrait of a progressive local Catholic parish and its parishioners.* Spot News Reporting:...
, Pulitzer Prize for International ReportingPulitzer Prize for International ReportingThis Pulitzer Prize has been awarded since 1942 for a distinguished example of reporting on international affairs, including United Nations correspondence. In its first six years , it was called the Pulitzer Prize for Telegraphic Reporting - International...
: David Rohde, for his persistent on-site reporting of the slaughter of thousands of Bosnian MuslimsSrebrenica massacreThe Srebrenica massacre, also known as the Srebrenica genocide, refers to the July 1995 killing, during the Bosnian War, of more than 8,000 Bosniaks , mainly men and boys, in and around the town of Srebrenica in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by units of the Army of Republika Srpska under the command of...
in the Srebrenica Genocide. - 20022002 Pulitzer Prize-Journalism:* Public Service:**The New York Times, for A Nation Challenged, a special section published regularly after the September 11th terrorist attacks on America, which coherently and comprehensively covered the tragic events, profiled the victims, and tracked the developing story, locally...
, Pulitzer Prize for Editorial CartooningPulitzer Prize for Editorial CartooningThe Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning has been awarded since 1922 for a distinguished cartoon or portfolio of cartoons published during the year, characterized by originality, editorial effectiveness, quality of drawing, and pictorial effect...
: Clay BennettClay BennettClay Bennett is an American editorial cartoonist. Currently drawing for the Chattanooga Times Free Press, Bennett is the winner of the 2002 Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning....
In April 2003, after being provided documents by a former Iraqi General, several news organizations (including the Monitor) reported that George Galloway
George Galloway
George Galloway is a British politician, author, journalist and broadcaster who was a Member of Parliament from 1987 to 2010. He was formerly an MP for the Labour Party, first for Glasgow Hillhead and later for Glasgow Kelvin, before his expulsion from the party in October 2003, the same year...
was accused by a U.S. Senate Committee led by Norm Coleman
Norm Coleman
Norman Bertram Coleman, Jr. is an American attorney and politician. He was a United States senator from Minnesota from 2003 to 2009. Coleman was elected in 2002 and served in the 108th, 109th, and 110th Congresses. Before becoming a senator, he was mayor of Saint Paul, Minnesota, from 1994 to 2002...
of personally profiting from corruption within the United Nations
United Nations
The United Nations is an international organization whose stated aims are facilitating cooperation in international law, international security, economic development, social progress, human rights, and achievement of world peace...
Oil-for-Food program. The Monitor investigated the matter, concluding that the documents were "almost certainly forgeries," and, in response to a lawsuit by Galloway, apologized in court.
In 2006, Jill Carroll
Jill Carroll
Jill Carroll is an American former journalist who was kidnapped and ultimately released in Iraq. Carroll was a reporter for the Christian Science Monitor at the time of her kidnapping...
, a freelance reporter for the Monitor, was kidnapped in Baghdad, and released safely after 82 days. Although Carroll was initially a freelancer, the paper worked tirelessly for her release, even hiring her as a staff writer shortly after her abduction to ensure that she had financial benefits, according to Bergenheim. Beginning in August 2006, the Monitor published an account of Carroll's kidnapping and subsequent release, with first-person reporting from Carroll and others involved.
Modernization
The print edition continued to struggle for readership, and, in 2004, faced a renewed mandate from the church to turn a profit. Subsequently, the Monitor began relying more on the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
as an integral part of its business model. The Monitor was one of the first newspapers to put its text online in 1996, and was also one of the first to launch a PDF
Portable Document Format
Portable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
edition in 2001. It was also an early pioneer of RSS
RSS (file format)
RSS is a family of web feed formats used to publish frequently updated works—such as blog entries, news headlines, audio, and video—in a standardized format...
feeds.
In 2005, Richard Bergenheim
Richard Bergenheim
Richard Bergenheim was the former editor of The Christian Science Monitor, and President of The First Church of Christ, Scientist....
, a Christian Science practitioner
Christian Science practitioner
A Christian Science practitioner is an individual who follows the practice of healing through prayer according to the teachings of Christian Science...
, was named the new editor; shortly before his death in 2008, Bergenheim was replaced by a veteran Boston Globe editor and former Monitor reporter John Yemma.
In October 2008, citing losses of $US18.9 million per year versus $US12.5 million in annual revenue, the Monitor announced that it would cease printing daily and instead print weekly editions starting in April 2009. The last daily print edition was published on March 27, 2009. The Monitor continues to offer daily news online on its website and via email. Yemma stated that the move to go digital was made because they recognized that CSMs reach would be greater online than in print. He has also stated that in the next five years the CSM would work to increase their online readership fivefold, from 5 million page-views to 25 million.
As the paper has turned its attention to online storytelling, it has been breaking ground with multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
projects like "Little Bill Clinton
Little Bill Clinton
"Little Bill Clinton: A School Year in the Life of a New American" is an , serial, narrative journalism project undertaken by The Christian Science Monitor in 2008-2009, as part of the 100-year-old newspaper's historic decision to abandon its daily print edition and shift its reporting energies...
", a narrative
Narrative
A narrative is a constructive format that describes a sequence of non-fictional or fictional events. The word derives from the Latin verb narrare, "to recount", and is related to the adjective gnarus, "knowing" or "skilled"...
serial following a year in the life of a young refugee.
The weekly magazine follows on from the Monitors London edition, also a weekly, launched in 1960 and the weekly World Edition which replaced the London edition in 1974.
Radio and television
MonitoRadio was a radio service produced by the Church of Christ, ScientistChurch of Christ, Scientist
The Church of Christ, Scientist was founded in 1879 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, by Mary Baker Eddy. She was the author of the book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures. Christian Science teaches that the "allness" of God denies the reality of sin, sickness, death, and the material world...
between 1984 and 1997. It featured several one-hour news broadcasts a day, as well as top of the hour news bulletins. The service was widely heard on public radio stations throughout the United States. The Monitor later launched an international broadcast over shortwave
Shortwave
Shortwave radio refers to the upper MF and all of the HF portion of the radio spectrum, between 1,800–30,000 kHz. Shortwave radio received its name because the wavelengths in this band are shorter than 200 m which marked the original upper limit of the medium frequency band first used...
radio, called the World Service of the Christian Science Monitor. Weekdays were news-led, but weekend schedules were exclusively dedicated to religious programming. That service ceased operations on June 28, 1997.
In 1986, the Monitor started producing a current affairs television series, The Christian Science Monitor Reports, which was distributed via syndication to television stations across the United States. In 1988, the Christian Science Monitor Reports won a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for a series of reports on Islamic fundamentalism. That same year, the program was canceled and the Monitor created a daily television program, World Monitor, anchored by former NBC correspondent John Hart, which was initially shown on the Discovery Channel. In 1991, World Monitor moved to the Monitor Channel, a 24-hour news and information channel. The only religious programming on the channel was a five-minute Christian Science program early each morning. In 1992, after eleven months on the air, the service was shut down amid huge financial losses.