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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South Korea’s summit aim: Prove talk with Kim is worth the while
At a much-scrutinized event Friday – where even the timing of the handshake has been negotiated in advance – a North Korean leader will sit down with his South Korean counterpart for only the third time in history. For South Korea's Moon Jae-in, the summit is a crucial chance to prove engagement doesn't mean appeasement.
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Low unemployment, but US job-market challenges still linger
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Even with a strong economy, many Americans have grown detached from the job market. It's sparked a rare bipartisan moment: a focus on getting Americans back into the workforce. As economist Isabel Sawhill puts it, “Work provides self-respect and a sense of well-being and makes for healthier communities.”
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What its cool stance on Armenian unrest says about Russia’s outlook
Does the Kremlin really fear democracy, as some have claimed? Russia's calm response to the "color" revolution going on in Armenia suggests not. Past Russian concern about revolutions in Ukraine and Georgia really probably was about NATO.
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Why reform bid, now withdrawn, ignited long-docile Nicaragua
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Nicaragua's revolutionary leader, Daniel Ortega, is suddenly facing his own revolution. Long seen as compliant in the face of increasing authoritarianism, the country has been roiled in the past week by protesters who refuse to back down until new elections are held. One key age group: People too young to remember the Sandinista revolution that brought Mr. Ortega to power.
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On Film
Our critic’s take: Three must-see movies for April
Peter Rainer does some real genre-jumping in his monthly best-of roundup. His picks include a story about a boy and his horse, a documentary that explores China’s Cultural Revolution in the context of three other radical late-’60s movements, and a horror film that innovates its way far beyond the standard scarefest.
Daily Audio Edition
An excerpt from The Christian Science Monitor Daily Audio Edition
April
26
Issue
( Audio is not yet available. )
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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Maple syrup inc.: Vermont’s maple syrup tradition goes high tech, high finance
In the past decade, the Vermont maple syrup industry has boomed, bringing outside investors, private equity firms, and a host of new challenges and opportunities to the Green Mountain State.
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The girls who took over a town in rural India
Development experts around the world are increasingly focused on girls as a linchpin of economic and social progress. In Thennamadevi, though, teen girls have taken action on their own, improving their village with a speed that would make any official envious.
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Is Germany’s bold new law a way to clean up the internet or is it stifling free expression?
In the struggle to deal with the explosion of abusive and hateful content on social media sites, Germany is staking out one of the most aggressive and far-reaching positions of any country in the world – and is being closely watched as a result.
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Ivy degree – now what? Low-income grads struggle with careers, status
Many low-income students who are the first generation in their families to go to college feel pressure to succeed and grapple with one of the most difficult transitions in a modern, developed society – moving from one socioeconomic class to another.
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Here comes the esports revolution – are video gamers the Tom Bradys of tomorrow?
Investors, the news media, and academia are all beginning to recognize that interactive gaming lies at a confluence of evolving technology and shifting demographics that is transforming entertainment.
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Two mothers, a son’s death, and the struggle for forgiveness
Giselle Mörch realized how much the concept of forgiveness had always been an abstraction for her. But now, confronted with the call to forgive in a way she could never have imagined, it has become something more wrenching and tumultuous, she says.
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