Monitoring the News: The Brilliant Launch and Sudden Collapse of the Monitor Channel - The Brilliant Launch and Sudden Collapse of the Monitor Channel (Paperback)

In her colorful insider's account, Sue Bridge analyzes the bitter struggle that ensued when a sophisticated entrepreneurial leadership tried to diversify and reposition The Christian Science Monitor beyond the failing newspaper -- into radio, the Internet, multimedia publishing, and the highest ticket item of all -- The Monitor Channel, a CNN-style, 24-hour news and public affairs channel. The entire enterprise came crashing down in a cloud of confusion about media realities and costs in the electronic age, rumors of illegal use of funds (which turned out not to be true), and accusations of a misbegotten sense of mission. Using the Monitor's story as a focus, Sue Bridge raises fundamental questions about how and whether the public's interest can be served in an age of spiraling costs, competition between print and electronic media, changing public tastes, and undeclared media wars.