Why is 海角大神 Science in our name?
Our name is about honesty. The Monitor is owned by The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and we鈥檝e always been transparent about that.
The church publishes the Monitor because it sees good journalism as vital to progress in the world. Since 1908, we鈥檝e aimed 鈥渢o injure no man, but to bless all mankind,鈥� as our founder, Mary Baker Eddy, put it.
Here, you鈥檒l find award-winning journalism not driven by commercial influences 鈥� a news organization that takes seriously its mission to uplift the world by seeking solutions and finding reasons for credible hope.
Explore values journalism About us
Both sides-ism, one side-ism, and journalism鈥檚 mission
Mark Sappenfield
There鈥檚 a lot of talk in journalism circles about what鈥檚 called 鈥渂oth sides-ism.鈥� The basic idea is that, in some cases, the journalistic approach of representing both sides equally creates false equivalencies. In other words, it makes things seem equal that aren鈥檛.
This is true. Both sides-ism doesn鈥檛 work with the scientific view of climate change, for example, or with claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. Facts point decisively to one 鈥渟ide鈥� in both cases.
Yet we鈥檙e also seeing the potential slippery slope of that kind of thinking. In many cases, the avoidance of both sides-ism has become 鈥渙ne side-ism,鈥� which can be worse. In one side-ism, it becomes relatively easy to delegitimize other viewpoints with which you do not agree by casting them as immoral or nonfactual when, in fact, the situation is multifaceted.聽
In today鈥檚 issue, several stories stress the importance of a willingness to engage in news with all its nuance. How do you help the people of Afghanistan without propping up the Taliban? What does it mean to be the political party fighting for parents鈥� rights? What鈥檚 the line between a genuine auteur and a sellout?
Our aim is to empower you to think about these questions deeply, highlighting humanity and hope wherever it exists. They are complex questions not prone to one-sided answers, and progress rarely comes from convenient shortcuts.
