Archive for the ‘Behind the Scenes’ Category

1908: What a Year

Submitted by Abe McLaughlin on 09/22/2008

1908 was a really big year. It started off with the first-ever ball drop in Times Square. It was the first time Mother’s Day was observed. It saw the founding of the Boy Scouts.  Albert Einstein presented his quantam theory of light. Henry Ford debuted his Model T. And, on November 25, the first issue of the Monitor was printed. Check out this list of even more things that happened.

 

The Monitor staff’s endless marathons

Submitted by Abe McLaughlin on 09/19/2008

As I walked out of the mostly darkened newsroom last night at 7 p.m., three computer screens were still glowing - those of Managing Editor Marshall Ingwerson, National News Editor Cheryl Sullivan, and International Editor Dave Scott. Each of them had arrived at least by 7 a.m., and it looked like they were going to be there a while longer. Twelve hour days aren’t unusual for Monitor staff, especially Marshall, Cheryl, and Dave, who are the core team running the paper’s day-to-day operations. During weekends they field calls from around the country and world from reporters and sub-editors to get ready for Monday’s paper. Keeping up the grueling pace of covering the world with a staff of 100 reporters and editors is like running an endless series of group marathons. One incredible fuel for this infinite race is encouraging comments from readers. You’ve been sending in lots to the centennial site’s Comments & Testimonials section.  A trio of my favorites so far:

“The Monitor is like a surpassingly wise uncle or aunt.” - Gordon Imrie

 “The Monitor is far too fascinating. Whenever I prepare to paint something, or shine my shoes, or build a fire I am distracted from my task by its brilliant journalism. Keep up the good work.” - Bob Rein III

“Thank you for putting into words thoughts that help and heal the world.” - Marjorie Verhoeven

Keep them coming. They’re a huge boost. 

Mandela @ the Monitor

Submitted by Abe McLaughlin on 09/16/2008

It was a regular Sunday morning at the Monitor - except that Nelson Mandela dropped by.

It was 1990, and the South African icon had just been released from in prison. He was on a triumphant eight-city tour of the US - and soon heading to Washington to speak to a joint session of Congress. But first he apparently wanted to see the Monitor’s home base for himself.  

Mary Baker Eddy on the Media

Submitted by Abe McLaughlin on 09/15/2008

The feisty New England woman who founded the Monitor 100 years ago had definite views on the media. At one point Mary Baker Eddy observed a bit wryly, “Looking over the newspapers of the day, one naturally reflects that it is dangerous to live.” And isn’t this just as true today? The if-it-bleeds-it-leads approach to news continues to dominate much of the media. (Although there are important exceptions, including a new magazine called Good.) And that’s what makes the Monitor’s mission - articulated by Mrs. Eddy - all the more remarkable: “to injure no man, but to bless all mankind.”

As long as we’re unearthing great quotes about the Monitor, here’s one that’s tacked to the wall of my cubicle. It’s from former editor Richard Bergenheim: “Think of the world as filled with friends. We don’t let our friends be in trouble without trying to figure out how to help them. We care. And part of what the Monitor exists to do is increase the caring capacity of our hearts.”

That, to me, is what the Monitor is all about: helping us understand that we live in a world that isn’t nearly as scary as much of the media might make us believe - and that we can improve ourselves and our world by expanding the capacity of our hearts.

Do you have any favorite quotes about the media or the Monitor? It’d be great to see them. Please post below.

  

 

Pistols and Propriety in the Newsroom

Submitted by Abe McLaughlin on 09/11/2008

Monitor veteran Bob Cowen stopped by my desk recently and got to reminiscing. He started working here in 1950. On paydays back then, two guys with pistols on their hips would roll a heavy cart through the newsroom from which they’d dispense thick (or thin) envelopes of cash. Bob also remembers the leather aprons draped down the front of desks where women typists sat. They were strategically positioned lest (gasp!) a male staffer get a glimpse of the knees of a female colleague. Bob was a staff writer until 1995 - and still contributes stories. Here’s his great account of covering Sputnik - and how his editors didn’t believe his reporting about it. I hope he’ll drop by again and spin some more memories.

We Didn’t Invent the Internet, but…

Submitted by Abe McLaughlin on 09/10/2008

Back in 1995, at the dawn of the internet era, the Monitor became one of first US papers to launch a website. Our reporter, David Rohde, had just unearthed the massacre of about 8,000 Muslims in a Bosnian town called Srebrenica. We had to get the news out fast. So we put up a beta site to chronicle David’s reporting. Here’s a slide-show history of the Monitor’s evolution on the web, including some wonderfully primitive early websites. And here’s a celebration of our 10-year anniversary of being on the Internet by the website’s top editor at the time, Karla Vallance.

Good Everywhere

Submitted by Abe McLaughlin on 09/07/2008

You might think that after publishing more than 26,000 daily issues since 1908, we’d want to throw a big party to celebrate.

But that’s not our style. The basic goal of the Centennial celebration is to expand on the Monitor’s tradition of public service by working with readers like you to develop solutions for improving our world.