Exposing without Sensationalising: The Christian Science

Monitor and the plight of child soldiers in Africa Founded in 1908 with a mission "to injure no man, but to bless all mankind", the Christian Science Monitor is now an international newspaper published daily online. Despite its name, the Monitor is not a religious-themed paper, and does not promote the doctrine of its patron church. Instead it has become a voice that champions human rights and exposes crimes against humanity while developing a reputation for a "distinctive brand of non-hysterical journalism". In the early 1990s it began publishing a series of article on the plight of child soldiers in Africa and other parts of the globe. Since then it has consistently published articles on this issue with a particular focus on child soldiers in Sierra Leone and the activities of the Lords Resistance Army in Uganda. This paper looks at how the Christian Science Monitor has exposed the conditions endured by child soldiers in Africa without resorting to sensational journalism