'Christian Science Monitor' Readies for Budget Hit

By: Joe Strupp Recent financial troubles at the First Church of Christ, Scientist -- which owns The Christian Science Monitor -- have Monitor employees bracing for a cost-savings plan that could cut the paper's staff, increase subscription rates, institute a Web charge, or all three, employees said.

Stephen Gray, managing publisher of the 96-year-old Boston-based Monitor (Click for QuikCap), said no specific plans have been decided, but added that cost-saving measures "are under discussion and other things are under discussion."

Editors and other employees at the mail-delivered daily said church leaders have told them cost-reductions are going to be needed soon to offset recent church budget problems. Those relate to stock market losses going back several years and numerous capital expenses, including a new library and church improvements.

"The church board of directors finds that it must reduce its financial subsidy over the next few years," said Gray. "That presents us a challenge. But what steps that means will be taken have not been determined."

Church leaders did not return calls seeking comment.

One Monitor employee who requested anonymity complained that the paper was unfairly taking hits for the church's financial plight. "There is a concern that we are being made scapegoats for profligate spending by the church," this source said. "People are waiting for the next shoe to drop."

Gray disagreed with that view, pointing out that the Monitor would not exist without the church and, so, it must help bear the brunt when tough times come. "When the income isn't sufficient to meet the (church's) expense load, you look at the expense load and the Monitor is part of that," he observed.

A major budget cut is what many at the paper fear could come July 31, when the first quarter of the paper's fiscal year ends. Managing Editor Marshall Ingwerson said the church did not approve a new budget for the current fiscal year, choosing instead to fund the Monitor on a month-to-month basis until the end of July.

"That was to buy the church more time," Ingwerson said. "What happens at the end of July, we just don't know."

The church board recently told all members of the Christian Science Publishing Society, which includes the Monitor and dozens of other church-owned publications, that it wants the publishing group to break even in 2008 and be profitable by 2009, Ingwerson said. "We run up a huge deficit now," he remarked.

The 69,200-daily-circulation paper, which does not publish weekends, has 145 employees, including 110 editorial workers, Gray said.

Only 40% of the paper's $32 million annual budget comes from newspaper revenue, with the remaining 60% from donations, an endowment fund, and the church.

The paper has seen a noticeable circulation drop in recent years, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations FAS-FAX, which reported a decrease from 80,191 in March 2002 to 75,639 in March 2003.

Since the beginning of 2004, church leaders have been hit with severe financial problems unrelated to the Monitor's economic health, including an $8 million deficit in 2003, according to The Boston Globe, which also reported the church's endowment fund had dropped 15% to $51 million between 2002 and 2003.

Such negatives forced the church to cut 125 of its 700 non-Monitor jobs earlier this year, according to Ingwerson. "Things have been tightening at the church and we don't know what it means for us," he said.

The Monitor already saw one effect earlier this year in its size. Prior to February 2004, the weekday paper had published 24 pages twice a week and 20-pages three times per week. Since February, 20 pages has been its standard.

Liz Marlantes, a well-respected reporter who has worked in the D.C. office for three years, says employees do not want to speculate, but believe the paper will be honest about its situation. "The mood is hopeful," she said. "But we don't know all that much about it."

Although there have been no newspaper layoffs since 1989, Gray said the paper's annual budget has decreased regularly each of the past three years, dropping by about 5% each time. "They were no large cuts or staff cuts," he stressed. "Just trimming around the edges."

An easy revenue increase would be to raise the paper's subscription rate, currently at $199 per year. The last rate hike took the annual price up from $189 in 2001. Sources said the paper had contemplated doubling the subscription price, but that idea quickly died. Still, a price hike of some kind or a Web charge have not been ruled out.

Cost cuts, meanwhile, could hit most any area, workers fear. Known for its strong international coverage, the Monitor has bureaus in eight foreign countries, as well as in eight U.S. cities outside of Boston, including an 11-person Washington bureau. One rumored scenario, which Gray declined to comment on, has the paper cutting $5 million from its annual budget.