Monitor Night Live Illustrates Insightful Journalism
Principia College presented Monitor Night Live to a packed Wanamaker Hall last week. On stage with Editor Mark Sappenfield were European Bureau Chief Sara Miller Llana, based in Paris, and Amanda Paulson, the science and environmental writer, based in Boulder, Colorado. Politics Editor Liz Marlantes participated via video.
Power today is presented as a zero-sum proposition, Sappenfield noted early on. “The ‘winner take all’ thinking leaves individuals feeling that either you have power or your opponent does. It’s based on a scarcity mindset and is the least democratic way of finding solutions to issues. We see this in everything from politics in Washington to racial and gender equality to climate change.” All of those topics, and more, prompted the program’s title: “No Lack of Real Power: From Politics to #MeToo to Climate Change—How a Truer Sense of Power Can Open the Door to Progress.”
Describing communication among those with opposite viewpoints as a key step toward solving problems, Llana said, “Looking at the immigration issue in Europe as an example, I’ve seen how frank conversations help lessen fear. It’s when no one is talking that fringe groups gain ground.”
The journalists also noted the importance of seeking the human element in stories in order to engage readers and spark communication. In her story “Why Coal-Rich Wyoming Is Investing Big in Wind Power,” for example, Paulson highlighted a rancher in Wyoming to exemplify the shift in attitudes among those not usually seen as passionate about clean energy. And in her piece “Retooling the Workforce,” Llana wrote about labor issues in the European job market by featuring a former IBM executive who retrained in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Earlier in the day, the Monitor team visited mass communication, philosophy, and political science classes and talked with students during lunch and dinner. Sophomore Emily Staunton interviewed Paulson for a Principia Internet Radio segment, and Sappenfield met with Leadership Certificate candidates to share lessons he has learned during his first year as Monitor Editor. “I was incredibly impressed with how metaphysically grounded Mark is and how aware he is of everything that Mary Baker Eddy wrote pertaining to the purpose of the Monitor,” noted junior Paige Cooley.
While on campus, Sappenfield announced a student rate for The Christian Science Monitor Daily, a digital product designed for quick reads—ideal for students’ full schedules. He also expressed deep appreciation for the Monitor’s close ties to Principia.