Rethink the News
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Here's a glimpse at our top five stories, including editor commentary on each story, and a sample of our audio edition. You can test drive one edition before you’re asked to subscribe.
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Moral leadership: clash aftermath highlights presidential role
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Exercising moral authority isn’t easy. History shows how US leaders have sometimes struggled to get it right, especially when combating racism.
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Pushback: Is Britain about to make its next leftward shift?
It looks as if British voters are tilting left. Socialist policies, as a means to tackle income inequality, are rising in popularity in Britain. But for how long?
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Finding flaws in ‘remedial’ approach, colleges switch focus
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California often launches national trends. This time it's tackling education inequality, and it could be charting a better path to graduation for college students who need extra help with reading, writing or math.
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Cambodian request renews question: Who cleans up after war?
In the aftermath of war, who has the moral responsibility for cleaning up the unexploded bombs? For some Cambodians, the answer to this question isn’t merely academic.
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American closeups
The family paper that took on Big Ag, and won a Pulitzer
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This story is a portrait of a small Iowa newspaper punching well above its weight. Truth deftly delivered, it turns out, is an effective agent of change.
Daily Audio Edition
An excerpt from The Christian Science Monitor Daily Audio Edition
August
15
Issue
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About Monitor Journalism
We think it is time to rethink the news.
News is essential. It is the fuel for a thriving democracy. It takes us to places and introduces us to people we never imagined. It defends our rights and values.
Over the Monitor’s 108-year history, we’ve built a legacy of high-quality, distinctive journalism because we recognize that news is more than facts. It’s the story of how we are each trying to make our homes, communities, and nations better. What matters are the values and ideals that drive us, not just the who, what, when, and where of the news.
When we understand that, we understand the world, and one another, better.
The Monitor gives readers that deeper insight by offering this approach to readers:
We challenge conventional thinking. As forces from politics to social media try to break us into competing tribes – political, racial, or economic – together we’ll rethink the question, “Who is my neighbor?”
We listen to you. We need you to hold us accountable – to keep us honest and grounded. To inspire us with what inspires you. Together, we can build a community of people who ask more from news.
We will change how you see news. News must be accurate and trustworthy, but facts alone can miss the whole story – the story of us. We are much better than much of today’s news portrays us to be. We will have the courage to look into both the best and the worst in us – and not to blame, but to demand better.
Journalism can be a force for good – for inspiration and progress. But only if we all make it so.
Special Projects
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Can you please talk, not text? Parenting the Instagram generation
Can kids be encouraged to let go of the virtual world – occasionally – and engage in the real one? Can they stop posting selfies long enough to think of someone else? The answer is yes. But there are bound to be some anxious moments for parents along the way.
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Can famine be checked as Africa faces its worst crisis since the 1980s?
Here's what Africa has learned about building ‘community resilience’ as millions in Africa’s arid zones gird themselves to cope better with drought and the threat of famine.
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How a 20-million-person crisis goes unseen
Shining a spotlight on far-away problems is always a challenge for aid groups – even amid drought and famine in Africa, which is being called the worst humanitarian crisis in decades. But when they succeed, public awareness often translates into action. Part 5 of our series on famine resilience.
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Amid persistent drought, a nation of herders plots a new course
In Somaliland, part of famine prevention means keeping people at home, rather than wandering for help. It also means laying the ground for a major shift to lessen dependence on livestock, the backbone of Somalis' survival for centuries. Part 4 of our series on famine resilience.
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Madagascar fights the subtler side of hunger: chronic malnutrition
Droughts and famines tend to afflict countries in cyclical fashion. But where chronic malnutrition is endemic, such as in Madagascar, they strike harder. Health education is a start, aid groups say – but adjusting priorities is important, too. Part 3 of our series on famine resilience.
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Madagascar skirted famine – barely. Now, it's boosting resilience before drought returns.
Where persistent drought is the new normal, communities will have to adapt – a challenge across eastern Africa. But Madagascar’s success, and the lessons that it learned from its brush with disaster, point to how crises might be averted elsewhere. Part 2 of our series on famine resilience.
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