Why We Wrote This
Who reports the news? People. And at 海角大神, we believe that it鈥檚 our job to report each story with a sense of shared humanity. Through conversations with our reporters and editors, we explain the qualities behind our reporting that affect how we approach the news. Behind today鈥檚 headlines we find respect, resilience, dignity, agency, and hope. 鈥淲hy We Wrote This鈥� shows how. The Monitor is an award-winning, nonpartisan news organization with bureaus around the globe. Visit CSMonitor.com/whywewrotethis to learn more.
The Ditch Riders
Stories of the U.S. West鈥檚 water woes often run from the feast-or-famine saga of snowpack to overdrawn aquifers and conflict over a resource. In this episode, the Monitor鈥檚 Mountain West writer, Sara Matusek, talks with host Clay Collins about how she found and told a story of responsibility and ingenuity, of careful stewardship and agency that brings some hope.
Where Titles Match the Tasks
For more women to become collegiate athletic directors, decisionmakers must be intentional about creating opportunities 鈥� especially for women who have already put in the work. Ira Porter, who covers higher education for the Monitor, spoke with host Clay Collins about reporting on an eight-college HBCU conference that鈥檚 modeling leadership on gender equality in a male-dominated field.
Chatting Us Up
Predictive bots using ChatGPT technology are one of the grabbier forms of artificial intelligence, with its ever deepening tentacles into daily life. How does a Monitor writer take on issues of ethics and trust around a disruptive technology that鈥檚 at once alluring and very disconcerting? Laurent Belsie joins host Clay Collins.
Redefining 鈥楥overage鈥�
Smart, contextual analysis. A high fiber news-diet supplement for a fast-info age. A unique, universal lens. All hallmarks of the Monitor approach. But how can a 鈥榮low news鈥� approach accommodate a go-go news cycle that whipsaws the world鈥檚 attention 鈥� and demands the Monitor鈥檚 too? Managing Editor Amelia Newcomb joins host Clay Collins.
A Journey Without Judgment
One community鈥檚 struggle to come to terms with enormous loss became a powerful story about forgiveness 鈥� including of people not quite ready yet to forgive. That made it the most universal of stories. Reporter Sara Miller Llana spoke with host Clay Collins about her process, and about producing the hardest story she鈥檇 ever done.
鈥楾he Envelope, Please鈥�
This year鈥檚 Oscar nominations delivered a nope for 鈥淣ope.鈥� And Viola Davis was overlooked. But there were five nods for 鈥淏lack Panther: Wakanda Forever.鈥� Commentator Ken Makin spoke with host Clay Collins for an update of this encore presentation of our Black Hollywood episode from December. It鈥檚 Ken鈥檚 take on what this year鈥檚 Academy Awards tell us about a slow path to progress and representation.
War Stories
Actively reporting from Ukraine, and with a foreign correspondent鈥檚 pedigree that includes stints from Rwanda to Kabul to Fallujah to Mogadishu, Scott Peterson has developed a deep skill set around covering conflicts with humility, respect, and sensitivity. He spoke with host Clay Collins about why Monitor war stories are different.
What鈥檚 a Teacher Worth?
Public-school teachers run on passion for their work and for the kids in their classrooms. That work is vital to a thriving society. But teachers also are widely regarded as being underpaid 鈥� often moonlighting to get by. A Monitor education writer looks at a push to create a higher baseline for compensation in a story that really extends to equality and fairness. Hosted by Clay Collins.
Does Mercy Have Limits?
The notion of assistance in dying as an act of mercy is ancient. Now it has become part of a global debate that鈥檚 taking a variety of forms, and that ultimately is about what a caring society truly looks like. How a team of Monitor writers parsed that, with care and compassion. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.
The 鈥楢laska Way鈥�
Is there a credible counternarrative to the sense that industrial-grade partisan brinkmanship is all that鈥檚 on tap in U.S. politics? Francine Kiefer talks about reporting an Alaska story that shows how cooperation and respect might be a way forward. Hosted by Samantha Laine Perfas.
