Finding the universal human story

Why does the effort to rebuild a tiny Japanese fishing village, 10 years after a tsunami, matter to someone living in Australia or Canada or the U.S.?

Does this week’s cover story about the 10th anniversary of the Japan tsunami feel random? The calendar certainly offers some justification, with the disaster occurring on March 11, 2011. But, in the end, what if you’re not really all that interested in the topic? Strictly speaking, why does it matter to someone living in Australia or Canada or the United States?

This is the great challenge of the news. One thing happens in one place, then another thing happens in another place, and I’m living somewhere totally different, and I’m supposed to take … what from all this? Randomness seems baked in.

Just as television has fractured into hundreds of channels precisely to solve this problem of personal relevance, news media are now doing the same thing. We’re all looking for a niche. Which raises the question: What is The Christian Science Monitor’s niche?

The answer is apparent in this week’s cover story. We want to take the “random” out of seemingly obscure news.  

Why does the effort to rebuild a tiny Japanese fishing village, 10 years after a tsunami, matter to someone living in Australia or Canada or the United States? The answer is that it speaks to things that go beyond borders or languages or cultures. It speaks to how people think when facing a tragedy. It speaks to how they find ways to recover. It speaks to how people build on credible hope. None of these things is unique to any spot on Earth, and each holds lessons for us whether we’re trying to revitalize government or just not get annoyed by the person tailgating us on the way to the grocery store. 

News, in fact, is not random. News is the product of people trying to make the world better. Sometimes these efforts are misguided. Sometimes they are inspired. But in each story is the kernel of this larger vision: What can we learn about how this fits into the broader story of the human struggle to find ways forward, with all its twists and turns? 

The Monitor’s first editor, Archibald McLellan, wrote that the Monitor’s job was “to appeal to good men and women everywhere who are interested in the betterment of all human conditions and the moral and spiritual advancement of the [human] race.”

Take the determination to rebuild Minamisanriku, which was destroyed by the tsunami. Take the willingness to learn new lessons in that restoration. Take the local fishermen and women, who once were rather cutthroat in their competition. “After what they went through, and then working together, they are much more cooperative now,” says one resident.

That quote reminded me of a cover story from September in which we traced the origins of the United Nations. The same thing was true for that massive organization as for this small group of Japanese fishermen: After what the world went through in World War II, there was a deep desire to work together and be much more cooperative.  

In every story are glimpses of the universal human story, and that is the story we aim to tell.