Unlike other American dailies, the Monitor does not rely entirely on wire services like the Associated Press or Reuters for its news coverage. Currently, the paper itself has writers based in eleven countries around the world.
Despite the name, the editors of the periodical insist that the Monitor is not a religious-themed paper, nor does it seek to promote a certain creed or doctrine. However, a single Christian article, called "The Home Forum," has been published in every issue of the Monitor since its inception. This was said to have been a direct request from Eddy herself.
Also said to be a request by Eddy was that "Christian Science" always be included in the title of the paper. This was much opposed by some of her advisers who thought that it would not go over well with a secular community.
Shortly after Eddy's Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures was published, the book's popularity caught the attention of Joseph Pulitzer, a prominent member of the Jewish community. Eddy was 86 years old at the height of her popularity and wealth, when Joseph Pulitzer launched a campaign to remove Eddy's estate from her through the pages of his newspaper, the New York World. He eventually persuaded some of her friends and her two sons to sue for control of her estate.
The New York World harassed Eddy with continuous controversy to force the case to court, where it was eventually dismissed. In response to the hostile media treatment she received for her Christian beliefs, Mary Baker Eddy founded the Christian Science Monitor. She set as the Monitor's goal "to injure no man, but to bless all mankind."
Joseph Pulitzer went on to endow the Pulitzer Prize for journalism. The Monitor has won this prestigious award seven times.
When compared to other major newspapers and journalistic magazines, the Monitor chooses to take a steadied and slightly upbeat approach to national and world news. Some of its readers prefer the Monitor because it avoids the sensationalism sometimes seen in other news media, particularly with respect to tragedies and other evil happenings.
The Christian Science Monitor (or "CSM" as it is known in the intelligence community) is widely read by CIA and other intelligence agency analysts because of its particular focus on accuracy and objectivity.
Project Censored has noted that the Monitor often publishes factual articles discussing topics under-represented or absent from the mainstream mass media.