THE CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR has pioneered the kind of clear-eyed conflict-zone journalism that's given its readers reasons to care beyond their own borders—and many of those readers respond with prayer. But readers' prayers also have gone out in support of those doing the reporting.

From Edmund Stevens, the first Monitor correspondent to cover the fighting in World War II, to the present, the newspaper's reporters have been in the thick of things. Some have faced great danger. Among them were Elizabeth Pond in Cambodia, David Rhode in Bosnia, and Jill Carroll in Iraq. Pond was captured by insurgents, Rhode put himself in harm's way when he uncovered the Srebrenica executions, and Carroll was taken hostage, but all were released unharmed.

These and many other journalists representing newspapers, radio, and television outlets in war zones or in countries with actively repressive governments have been harassed, beaten, and—so far this year—33 have been murdered.

Iraq tops the Committee to Protect Journalists' list of the "World's Worst Places to be a Journalist." There, 25 journalists have been killed since 2003. Cuba has kept 29 journalists in maximum security prisons as the result of a crackdown on press freedom in 2003. China is holding 41, making it the world's top jailer for the fifth year in a row. Other countries on the list include Eritrea, Haiti, and Russia, as well as the West Bank and Gaza.

For the cause of truth to prosper and for the free flow of ideas to be possible, all of the world's journalists need our support in prayer. A writer herself, Mary Baker Eddy respected the power of the press, although it wasn't always her friend. In Miscellaneous Writings 1883-1896 she wrote, "When the press is gagged, liberty is besieged ...." (p. 274). But she went on to point out the responsibility of the press to be truthful, honest, merciful, and moral. The demand to sell newspapers then—and now—was a clear temptation to spice up the facts, but the honest writer will ally himself or herself with basic moral principles, which in our view, spring from the nature of God as Truth. As the Psalmist sang, "O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me" (Ps. 43:3).

Monitor readers have good cause to want to support reporting that expresses the accuracy, goodness, and power of divine Truth. When Truth is honored, freedom reigns—freedom from mental and physical imprisonments, from the mental darkness of violence, ignorance, superstition, selfishness, hatred, and cruelty. This devotion to Truth honors the Christ—the true idea of God and His divine message of love to humanity. In essence, the Christ-message is the "good news" of the Gospel, and when reporters honor truth in their reporting, they are, even if only in a degree, forwarding Truth's purpose to heal and bless humanity.

True, the average journalist in many nations is unlikely to face actual death on the job. But resistance to providing the facts, or mental manipulation that leads to distortion of the details, dishonesty, plagiarism, and the transmission of confusion and fear, are actually elements of thought. And these can be deadly in their own way.

Prayers recognizing that alertness, not apathy, governs; that intelligence and wisdom trump confusion and fear; and that love of truth outweighs dishonesty and corruption, will make a difference. Such Truth-empowered reporting can be an enormous source of hope, especially in areas where repression would stifle freedom. And prayer is never wasted, even if we don't see outward results of it immediately. It can support the search for reliable sources of insight and information, and can strengthen the writer who may be tempted to give up or to sell out.

We can also offer our prayer with the conviction that all people have a God-established right to safety and peace in His care. Even in the darkest thicket or loudest demonstration, divine Truth is able to speak and to protect reporters and others in danger.

A Sentinel interview with Elizabeth Pond, who was threatened with rape and held by Cambodian insurgents for five and a half weeks before she was released, makes this point. She said she "had been praying from the moment of our capture to realize that brotherhood, and not war, is the natural state of man ... I remember saying to the guard, 'You're my brother and I'm your sister, and this isn't necessary.'" She also said: "'You have everything you need as the son of God.' And the outcome was that ... I was completely protected" (Sentinel April 3, 1971, p. 592).

Each of us, no matter where we live, can help reporters stay calm under fire, as Pond did. We can support their ability to find the facts and to report them accurately, and, above all, to stay safe—especially when an enemy threatens. The God who is also almighty Love enables both the frontline journalist and the supportive citizen to respond with intelligence and love. CSS