Monitoring the News: The Brilliant Launch and Sudden Collapse of the Monitor Channel

In her colorful insider's account, Susan 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. Using the Monitor's story as a focus, Susan 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.