Customer Reviews

Christian Science Monitor - Domestic ed

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I've enjoyed the Monitor for years. The new weekly edition contains stories that you are not likely to find in other newspapers and has an international perspective consistent with the purpose of its founder to "injure no man but to bless all mankind." Although run by the Christian Science church it is NOT a religious publication.

Everyone I introduced the Christian Science Monitor to initially laughs, "A Christian news magazine?" No, no, no! Believe me when I say that I would never subscribe to a religious news source. Though run by the Church of Christian Science, the former newspaper (sad loss), now magazine actually has a 100 year old charter stating that NO editorial control can be exercised by the owners. You can't even say that about news organizations owned by corporations. Not only is the CSM completely untouched by religious dogma, this totally independent publication is downright humanist and one could even say left-leaning. The Church pretty much said, "Here's a newspaper, you're on your own."

The Monitor is as related to Christianity as Time Magazine is to clocks. Filled with Pulitzer Prize winning journalism, you will find no "soft ball" news here. You will NOT find articles like "Superman Turns 50", or covers bearing the image of new consumer products. No advertising disguised as news. During the Iraq War, when sources like the NYTimes and CNN had "embedded" journalists riding along with the military, feeding approved, whitewashed news, CSM stuck themselves on the streets of Baghdad.

Better than Time.
Better than Newsweek.
Even better than The Economist.

If you took the 'Christian Science' out of the name, someone reading it may think it was a publication of NPR, but better.

Don't believe it? Go buy a single issue. Oh and there's a reason it's comparatively expensive (psst, it's cheaper through their website): it's *NON-PROFIT*. This means that subscribers pay for the journalism, not advertisers. You think Time could charge $20 per year without all the advertising? You're paying for the news, not Pfizer or Walt Disney.

I look forward to getting the newest CSM every week. I enjoy The Economist but its too verbose and dry for my tastes. I'm unable to slog through an entire issue of The Economist within a week. I turned to CSM instead and found that its a fantastic choice for an objective current affairs magazine. The articles are concise but still go fairly in depth on a given topic. It touches on the important topics in domestic news, international affairs, and economics. I also enjoy the culture articles and film reviews. But most importantly, CSM remains an objective news source, which is hard to find these days. I usually finish an issue in about two hours and I feel like I've learned something every time I do. Excellent magazine and I feel like I'm going to be a lifelong subscriber!

I've been a subscriber for many years, and have come to depend on the unique perspective the Monitor brings to the news. It provides world-wide coverage, thoughtfully. I don't go to the Monitor for late-breaking news -- there are many other news outlets that can provide that up-to-the-minute information. I depend on the Monitor for deeper insights into the front page stories, and especially international news. I also depend on the Monitor for the more unusual, "behind the headlines" stories that will never appear on the pages of most news publications. These are the stories that give me greater insight into the world, how other people think about things and see issues that concern us all. Other writers have emphasized that it's not a religious paper, and that's true in a literal sense. It does not preach Christian Science. But anyone who knows about the teachings of this religion can see that it reflects the goals and perspective of its founder, Mary Baker Eddy, by striving to publish information that "injures no man, but blesses all mankind."