Is the Christian Science Monitor Reliable / Biased / Liberal or Conservative? (1998)
The Christian Science Monitor (
CSM) is an international news organization that delivers global coverage via its website, weekly magazine, daily news briefing, email newsletters,
Amazon Kindle subscription, and mobile site. It was started in
1908 by
Mary Baker Eddy, the founder of the
Church of Christ, Scientist.
As of 2011, the print circulation was 75,052.
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 the publication is not a platform for evangelizing.
On
October 28, 2008, Editor
John Yemma announced that the
Monitor would discontinue its 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.
Despite its name, the Monitor does not claim to be a religious-themed paper, and says it does not promote the doctrine 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.
Monitor staff have been the recipients of seven
Pulitzer Prizes, the most recent in
2002.
1950, Pulitzer Prize for
International Reporting: Edmund Stevens, for his series of 43 articles written over a three-year residence in
Moscow entitled, "
This Is Russia Uncensored."
1967, Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting:
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.
1968, Pulitzer Prize for
National Reporting:
Howard James, for his series of articles,
Crisis in the
Courts.
1969, Pulitzer Prize for National Reporting:
Robert Cahn, for his inquiry into the future of our national parks and the methods that may help to preserve them.
1978, Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and
Awards, Journalism:
Richard Strout, for distinguished commentary from
Washington over many years as staff correspondent for The Christian Science Monitor and contributor to
The New Republic.
1996, Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting:
David Rohde, for his persistent on-site reporting of the slaughter of thousands of
Bosnian Muslims in the
Srebrenica Genocide.
2002, Pulitzer Prize for Editorial Cartooning:
Clay Bennett
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.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Science_Monitor