New editor at The Christian Science Monitor

Mark Sappenfield has been named the 17th editor of news organization begun in 1908. 

Commentary

The Christian Science Board of Directors has elected Mark Sappenfield to serve as the next editor of The Christian Science Monitor, succeeding Marshall Ingwerson who announced his resignation in December.  

Mr. Sappenfield, a 20-year veteran with the Monitor, held assignments in Boston, the San Francisco Bay area, Washington, and South Asia. Returning from New Delhi to Boston in 2009, Sappenfield was named deputy national news editor, and in September 2014 he became national news editor and joined the Monitor editorial managing team.

Outgoing editor Ingwerson told a newsroom gathering that "Mark is a guy who brings great gifts to journalism but also no ego.... He brings this paradoxical feel of a longtime familiar in the newsroom but also a fresh breeze."

After recognizing Ingwerson's contribution as editor, Board member Scott Preller said that "The Board is feeling a real sense of momentum and joy about the future of the Monitor... What the Monitor is producing, what it has to offer to the world is needed now more than ever."

Sharing his conviction about the Monitor’s unique place, Sappenfield recently talked about the need for the Monitor to once again help lead a renovation in journalism. “Done correctly, journalism can be an agent of healing and hope because it is not about arguing over facts and events but getting to the basic issues that matter so greatly to us all. It is about taking account of lasting values and spiritual qualities that animate everyone and make for human progress – qualities such as goodness, grace, justice, courage, humility, joy. Our reporting is guided and defined by them. It aims for excellence – stories well told, accurately and fairly.”

Sappenfield will assume the editorship on March 20.