The Mother Church, The First Church of Christ, Scientist, was built in Boston, Massachusetts, in 1894. Įddy and 26 followers were granted a charter by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1879 to found the "Church of Christ (Scientist)" the church would be reorganized under the name " Church of Christ, Scientist" in 1892. The book became Christian Science's central text, along with the Bible, and by 2001 had sold over nine million copies. It was founded in 19th-century New England by Mary Baker Eddy, who wrote the 1875 book Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures, which outlined the theology of Christian Science. Adherents are commonly known as Christian Scientists or students of Christian Science, and the church is sometimes informally known as the Christian Science church. His presses may not be the only ones slowing to a halt.Christian Science is a set of beliefs and practices which are associated with members of the Church of Christ, Scientist. "The economic world that we may be moving into is going to make for a lot of bad news for the world of journalism for the next year," says Yemma. Said Friday that third quarter revenue fell year-over-year 9% to $1.6 billion.įared little better with an 8.9% year-over-year decline to $687 million. In 2004, the church mandated the Monitor move toward greater self-sufficiency by 2009. For instance, it became a tabloid in 1975, and the page count is notoriously thin today.īut the golden days of protection are at an end. That's not to say the paper hasn't tried to cut costs for years. While most papers have shut down foreign and domestic bureaus despite frustrated pleas from writers, editors and readers, the non-profit Monitor used the church's financial buffering to keep eight foreign and six domestic outposts. And the Monitor, winner of seven Pulitzer Prizes, the most recent in 2002, held out bravely against a tide of what many argue is diminished quality in journalism. "I'm not trying to minimize that, but the Newark Star-Ledger just laid off 40%, so it's a tough time in this world of newspapers," he says. Yemma said some 10% to 15% of his staff may have to go. 30, the Monitor averaged a readership of just 52,214, down 7% from 56,083 during the six months ending March 31. At $89 for a year's subscription, or a $2 cover price, the Monitor is betting it can sustain a staff if it can boost circulation to 85,000 over the next few years. The launch of the print magazine acknowledges as much. That can't fund a 95-person editorial staff accounting for some $12.5 million of the paper's costs. Still, the site accounts for only 9% of Monitor revenue, with an expected $1.1 million in ad sales this year. Yemma says internal numbers place the number higher at 1.5 million-he wants to grow it to 6 million by 2013. Last month, comScore reports received 837,000 unique visitors-up from 595,000 during the same time last year-but still tiny compared to the 19.9 million monthly users at, say,. The paper was founded in 1908 by Mary Baker Eddy in an attempt to silence the press from excoriating her church by offering a model of even-handed journalism.Ĭonverting it into a digital-print hybrid is risky. That's quite a shortfall for the non-profit Monitor, which is also supported by an endowment and parent organization, the First Church of Christ, Scientist. This year, his paper will cost $25.8 million to operate, but will only bring in roughly $12.5 million in revenue. "I don't know for sure that print is dead, but I don't think it's doing very well," says Yemma. It laid off a group of business employees last week and, in February, laid off some 100 to 150 people, including 40 to 50 in the newsroom. Just yesterday, the Tribune Co.'s Los Angeles Times announced another 75 editorial cuts in its newsroom. The circulation drop was less pronounced at just 2.6% for the six months preceding it. Daily circulation dropped another 4.6% among 507 reporting newspapers to roughly 38.2 million copies, for a period of six months ending on Sept. Yesterday, the Audit Bureau of Circulations released a disastrous bi-annual readership report. While it is hardly a major force in journalism anymore, the Monitor is the most well-known and prestigious newspaper in America to bail out of having a daily print edition. While other print publications have folded in favor of online in recent years, the Monitor's change is perhaps the most poignant acknowledgment thus far of the radical transformation in the newspaper business.
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