Editor Replaced at 'Christian Science Monitor'; Editorial Jobs to Be Cut

By: E&P Staff Paul Van Slambrouck, editor of The Christian Science Monitor since 2001 and 29-year veteran of the paper, has been replaced as editor of the Boston-based newspaper. The change was announced in an article for tomorrow's Monitor that was posted on the paper's site this afternoon.

Richard C. Bergenheim, former editor in chief of the Christian Science Publishing Co., has been chosen to replace him.

Bergenheim also announced "a reallocation of funds between editorial and publishing," which will eliminate 10-15 positions from its editorial staff of 102. "There will be a reduction in editorial staff to permit the publisher to devote efforts to marketing to rebuild the paper's circulation," the report said.

It added: "Paul Bermel, manager of The Christian Science Publishing Society, says this will enable the Monitor to augment its operations in the coming year by the addition of a new head of advertising sales and a new director of business development, among other positions, to strengthen its financial base. This new effort will be led by Jonathan D. Wells, who was named managing publisher of the Monitor, effective immediately. Wells, who had served as director of business development and electronic publishing for the Monitor, replaces Stephen T. Gray, who served as managing publisher since 1997."

Bergenheim, the new editor, served from 1988 to 1994 on the publishing company's board of directors. As editor in chief, he worked with the editor of the paper and of Monitor Radio in setting strategy and overseeing editorial quality. "Richard's passion for the news, spiritual strength, and wide-ranging curiosity will be enormously helpful in dealing with the challenges facing the newspaper industry in general and our paper in particular," said Mary Trammel, the current chair of the board, according to the Monitor article.

During Van Slambrouck's tenure as editor, the Monitor won a Pulitzer Prize and greatly increased the audience for csmonitor.com. He joined the paper as a local reporter in 1976 and has served as Houston bureau chief, Johannesburg bureau chief, and international news editor. He will be returning to San Francisco, and he has been asked to serve as one of the Monitor's senior editors and to write regularly, drawing on his wide knowledge of international affairs and the impact of technology on society.